(MASKED AND ANONYMOUS)
Screenplay by
Sergei Petrov & Rene Fontaine
Additional Dialogue by
Will Stapleton & J.D. "Eir.peror" Jones
Based On the Short Story
"Los Vientos Del Destino"
by Enrique Morales
Revised Draft
5 / 21/02
(PRE-TITLE SEQUENCE) .
FADE IN : '
f ?S t u 9 n‘^ la -f k ? nd white > : That iconic image of
\ ^ te (B ? b Dy: !- an) circa 1965-1966 from over his
shoulder, guitar in hand, harmonica around his neck,
°5? ° f mu S si 9nature songs (eg. 'Blowin in the
Wind , The Times They Are A Changin') for a massive
adoring audience.
FADE-OUT: .
(TITLES)
FADE '■ IN : * v
? ews . foot \ a 9® montage: . international, social and
political .unrest, violence, “.revolt, protest, natural
isasters,, and. their, aftermath. Audio underneath: urgent
overlapping news reports* in a variety of foreign
languages:. Music: Various . (rock, rap, country, salsa,
opera, classical, avant-garde, jazz: We hear talk radio
and commercials, put of the montage, the camera tracks
aown a street of a homeless encampment. Peoole living in
elaborate configurations of boxes and under tarps lined
up one after another against a building, landing finally
.n a . vacant homeless man, sitting up against the wall,
staring back at us.. We move in to his barely held
together boom box perched by his side, as out of the
cacophony, the voice of a radio preacher emerges from it:
RADIO PREACHER ( V.O.)
...Do you not believe in many gods?
Or do you not- believe in the one true
God? Do you believe God created the
slave race? Ezekiel saw the wheel?
But what kind of wheel? The cigar
shaped hubcap things in the sky? Are
these the gods that created mankind?
Was he imagining that? Let me ask you
another question, people, how. many
people think God and the devil are the
same? Amen. People, there are many
gods. It is written in the Bible that
there are many gods. Does the bible
lie? The earth was here long before
these gods were... it’s written in the
Psalms, King David, "Ye are gods.”
God did not create this earth.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
2
2 CONTINUED: 2
RADIO PREACHER (cont'd)
The earth was here long before these
Gods were. It was God created the
people .. .Would you swear on a Bible?
I'd swear on a Bible. What happens
when you go to court? You swear on
the bible. A book of treachery,
murder and genocide. Of course I'd
swear on that. Put it down right now .
They ask God to sacrifice his son.
Sacrifice? It's completely absurd,
and I'll tell you why. The Christians
are relinquishing nine-tenths of the
world to the devil... The false
Christianity that you subscribe to is
nothing more than the cult of the
virgin... People, it's time to
evaluate and reflect on your lives.
Think about it. What did Martin
Luther King get out of the whole
thing? A boulevard?...
FADE OUT.
3 EXT. OFFICE ELDG . -DAY 3
In one continuous POV shot, we see a once regal office
building in a changing neighborhood', in an indeterminate
multi-ethnic city in an unnamed country, poised between
affluence and abject poverty. We see beautifully wrought
architecture gone to seed, done over poorly, modernized
haphazardly. Closed . storefront s , throngs of homeless and
those one step above homeless wandering the streets.
We move into the lobby of this office building and see
the once grand ornate interior left to deteriorate.
We move to the directory. It is filled with bogus,
dubious foreign sounding businesses, interspersed between
obviously carelessly misspelled names and large blank
spaces representing widespread vacancies in the building.
Amongst the names we see:
Uncle Sweetheart Management - 4th Floor
We move into the elevator. The door closes. We
CUT TO:
INT. UNCLE SWEETHEART 7 S OFFICE - DAY
In one continuous move, we pan across photos displayed on
his wall. They are 'head-shots' of dubious 'talent' of
various disciplines. (We will meet some of them later.)
8x10 composites, signed by the talent to Uncle
Sweetheart. Actors, magicians, animal acts, etc. The
first. two photos seem typical ‘and good, although clearly
old, yellowed,- dog-eared. 'As we move, however, the
"picture" -changes.. 'One .frame. -is broken. The next
picture' is unceremoniously ripped. Teeth are blackened
out and mustaches and glasses are drawn on a couple.
Eyes- are cut out- of. another. Then, a few missing
altogether, . ; fatted rectangles on the wall where they once
were . *• Then,- a. violent ‘looking -hole in the wall. The
.camera, continues ‘moving, first, -hearing Uncle Sweetheart
on /the ‘phone over, the ’photos, • then, finally landing on
hi's desiccated countenance itself. UNCLE SWEETHEART is a
hard. drinking,' hard living -hard ass combination of John
the. Baptist and- 5 -P‘.T'. Barnum, who has blurred the line,
even for himself, between salesman and evangelist. He is
at once desperate and fatalistic with an abundance of
charm and balls. He wears a well worn powder blue tuxedo,
a ruffled white shirt and kick ass, ass kicked boots. He
is wearing a shoulder holster. We see him put on his
jacket over the holster. He takes his pistol, puts one
bullet in the chamber, and places it in the holster,
concealed by his jacket. Uncle Sweetheart is on the
phone. At once, orating, berating, seducing, cajoling,
goofing, and challenging.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
(on the phone)
...Honey, 'you don't have to scream at
me-.- I." hear you fine at normal decibel
levels 1 I got a volume control on
•this phone .. .Honey, this here's a
benefit concert. Benef it . . . That ' s
right. Bigger than Live-Aid, or Farm-
Aid or whatever ... if you don't want a
piece of this action, then you ain't
■human... I'm not making a dime on the
deal, I'm just trying to feed sortie :
starving children, is all. You can't
get behind that, you can live with
yourself, god bless ya, although I
doubt he. will... Who takes care of the
sick? We're not committing ourselves
to any formal point of view.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
4
4 CONTINUED: 4
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
The more you know the more you
suf fer. .. Strong words alone don't
influence the Senate. It takes daring
and outrageous acts... Oh, how post-
modern of you. Thinking is getting in
the way of your life. No gambler ever
won anything by thinking...
He hangs up and begins rummaging through his cluttered
desktop and overstuffed briefcase.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
(singing)
I put a spell on you, 'cause you're
mine . . .
Finally, he finds what he's looking for, a scrap of
paper just as the song climaxes. He is very satisfied
with his performance.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Ha! I know where everything is...
Angle on scrap: The name "Jack Fate" is scribbled on it,
along with a phone number. He hurriedly shoves it in his
pocket as he hears movement outside his door. He quickly
takes his seat and tries to act nonchalant. We see the
shadow of two men, PERCY and BLUNT, loon in his office
door window. Then, suddenly, they enter. They are
serious men with 'an agenda.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Oh, it's the dark princes, the
democratic republicans. Working for a
barbarian who can scarcely spell his
own name. Hey, the only thing more
pleasant than seeing you would be
seeing the grim reaper himself. You
gentlemen are about to make a hideous
choice. You two are pitiable figures
weeping with blood, and it' s gonna be
your blood. Are you aware gentlemen,
that this is all a play?
They wait until he's finished. But they are not really
listening. More importantly, they care little for what
he has to say.
PERCY
We don't want paper money. We want
gold and silver.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED; (2) ;
4
• * UNCLE SWEETHEART
Dark glasses, huh? Usually I like to
see the eyes of who I'm dealing with.
Okay listen,' Uncle Sweetheart is
organizing a -benefit concert. A
benefit concerts To help the
children. The real victims of the
revolution! However, I will be
personally siphoning the majority of
the funds into the kitty of the
-fattest cat of all. . Me! And you
-gentlemen will be paid in full.
' PERCY .
• -When?- . * '■ . ■*
■ ' -UNCLE' SWEETHEART *
•- Definitely in this lifetime.
• * / , “
. ■ • ? ; . blunt •’ . ’
* • ■ .-.You .got- the mdney, or not?
‘ ' . “ UNCLE SWEETHEART
I understand you' re not accustomed to
staring into -the face of God.
■ PERCY
Shut up.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I can't. As long as I keep talking, I
know I'm still alive. .
The ■ two men grab Uncle Sweetheart.
PERCY
There's no use talking to you.
BLUNT
There's no point listening, either.
And with that, the two men proceed to beat the crap out
of Uncle Sweetheart. They throw him to the ground and
kick and punch him unmercilessly as he lies unseen but
not unheard behind his massive desk. As they continue to
pummel him, we pan to the pictures, on the wall, which
vibrate with each blow, until one of them falls and
breaks on the floor. Finally, arbitrarily, the two men
seem satisfied.
(CONTINUED)
4
CONTINUED: (3)
4
PERCY
Are you still alive?
There is a beat, then:
UNCLE SWEETHEART
(weakly)
Yup.
Percy and Blunt exit as we
CUT TO:
5 EXT. SOUNDSTAGE - DAY 5
It's an imposing building that has seen better days, a
place where a secret broadcast could rake place. An old
TV or radio station, or perhaps temple, or other house of
worship. Seemingly abandoned or close to it. Perhaps it
seems like one thing from the street, but once inside, is
something quite different.
We follow NINA VERONICA, the hard charging, cynical, yet
secretly optimistic executive supervising the project as
she moves through the soundstage, followed by two
weasly, of f icious men, DION and BACCHUS. Past banners
heralding the upcoming benefit concert, sets being built,
cables laid, a makeshift stage being constructed and art
directed. Past a makeshift tent city on the soundstage,
a refugee camp, bazaar, the soundstage, not only the
location of this concert, but a sort of self contained
post modern village, like one might see in the Middle
East , Africa, or a Grateful Dead concert. Nina is stuck
between the rock and the hard place, and knows that she
always will be. Her very appearance, hard, sexual, yet
intimidating and untouchable, belies the inner
ambivalence she is loath to reveal.
NINA
...Remind Lucius that it's a benefit.
We're trying to raise money for
medical aid for the families of those
dispossessed by the war...
DION
What war?
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
Nina, clearly has ho respect for these two men. And they
are in no position to defy or confront her. This is her
domain. '
NINA
What war? Are you kidding me? All
the wars. The futility of war. I'm
not going to debate semantics with
you. It's real. It's beyond
phenomena. There's shooting and
-killing. How do you define a war, in
■this day and age? •
DION *
-What are • they fighting about?
‘ -• ‘ . 7 -NINA.' ' .-V . V
• v I‘-don't. know'- what they're fighting
* ; about'. Do the’-Hindus; Jews, Arabs,
■ ' -Irish,; Muslims; -Buddhists, know what
'■.'-.•.they are .fight'ing about? The last
.thing anybody khows is what they're
' fighting about. It's ‘a battle between
this world and the next world. One
God against ' another . Religious/
Economic wars caused by pride, ethnic
pride. Nobody knows that anymore.
The last person who actually knew that
was killed years ago. They're all
religious wars. Look, we've got dead
aliens stacked up in warehouses. What
else do you need to know? We're
talking about a war with no
technological spin-off. Where the
fighting is over a small piece of mud,
the gateway of the afterlife. The
burial- site of Arthur and Guinevere.
, It's an uneasy puzzle to solve,
gentlemen.
BACCHUS
So, why a benefit concert?
NINA
Well, how else do you get rock stars
to do television? Either give 'em a
cause or give 'em an award...
She stops and stares down Dion and Bacchus. She is
clearly done with them.
(CONTINUED)
6
CONTINUED: (2)
6
They get the message and awkwardly exit. She pivots to
two CREW GUYS, who have been eyeing her lasciviously.
NINA
Hey, big boy, you getting your eyes
full?
They avert their gaze and quickly return to work.
She enters her trailer which serves as both an office and
makeshift home, as the phone is ringing. She picks it up
as she checks what's left of her paltry excuse for a
wardrobe, changing her shirt, smelling her clothes, etc.
NINA (cont'd)
Lucius, why are you hassling me?... I
told you! We're already in too deep
to make that kind of change on such
short notice ... It ' 11 work out. It
always works out. Even when it
doesn't work out, that's a form of
working out... Don't threaten me with
pulling the plug. This is about
intuition. How we look at the world
is who we are. We're bound by an
honor code here. This is about some
weird plague... You think this is about
making money? This isn't about making
money. Money-craving is a
disease ... Don' t tell me the definition
of a man. - A man isn't so much what he
dees as what he's allowed to do... All
right. I'll keep it in mind.
Uncle Sweetheart climbs into the trailer without knocking
but with great difficulty, showing seme of the effects of
the beating.
NINA (cont'd)
I gotta go.
(she hangs up)
What happened to you?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
What happened to me? How far back do
you want to go?
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED': (3).*
' NINA*.
Where's my headliner? I just got off
the phone with the network. They want
something -to promote. They need
something to promote. They have some
questions about your ability to
perform services due.'
He looks around for something'.-' A drink? She stops him
from snooping: He. pulls out his bottle of booze.
' '*■ UNCLE -SWEETHEART
■■ And i suppose -'you told 'em I was a
• showbiz stud, : that you have total
• 'mystical knowledge and faith in me and
. absolutely; no' questions about my
*'•.*'* ability to' perform services ‘due.
\ ; ■ . ... '• : \ " Nina;. • '
. ’Yea, something l-ike that. So, who are
. /" -we -getting?-' Are- we getting any
# 'important people? You know,
headliners, top of the line
performers..
UNCLE SWEETHEART
.Maybe. We'll see. Ya never know.
. 'NINA
Should I believe you?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Of course.
NINA
Are we or are we not screwed?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I'm not. Are you? I don't think you
are getting screwed. That's your
problem.
He offers her a swig. She pushes past him.
NINA ■
I can't believe you're going to turn
this disaster into a seduction.
Uncle Sweetheart is seized by a thought.
(CONTINUED)
10
6 CONTINUED: (4)
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Is this place bugged?
She begins to exit trailer. At the door:
NINA
Uncle Sweetheart, an entire society is
counting on you to raise some money
for them. Victims of circumstance.
The victims of the world. We're
fighting a war here, in case you
didn't know.
She exits: He follows her out onto the soundstage floor
where the work continues.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
War? Don't tell me about war. I
fought in the grand daddy of all wars.
The war to end all wars. The one that
ripped the heart out of things...
Look, honey, I'm on your side.
NINA
My side? Everyone I've ever met I can
look in the eye and tell what side
he's on, so why don't we stop the
spiffy chatter. I'm on my way to a
meeting with the network. They have a
much greater reach and resonance then
even they themselves might suspect.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
For the love of humanity we must limit
their power.
NINA
You don't take any of this seriously.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I am taking it seriously. Look at me,
being all serious. Here's the thing.
I don't think Sting or Springsteen or
Billy Joel or McCartney are going to
work out. But I have a surprise for
you . . .
(CONTINUED)
11
6 CONTINUED: (5)* 6
He pulls -out the crumpled number of Jack Fate, and shows
it to Nina. He tries to sell it with a smile. She's not
buying. We hear the sounds of distant thunder.
DISSOLVE TO:
7 FLASHBACK #1 - APPROXIMATELY 1941 7
They are edited together, eight millimeter home movies
(perhaps coupled with stills, candid shots and official
portraits). A‘ . MAN and a WOMAN, early in their marriage,
although hardly young. He -seems 40ish. The woman,
slightly .younger. . Theyiare -proper-looking people,
officious, even somewhat, stiff ; in front of the camera,
the. smiles - artificial-. . They .wave awkwardly, from the
terrace .or -veranda, *'or courtyard of what seems like an
."opulent-, : palatial estate. -’‘(Think of those candid home
’ movies' of; Hitler -and Eva Braun.)
'• •• - JACK FATE (V.O.)
.-. They were, happy once, although it's
, ‘hard to imagine now. Everything in
their lives was infused with hope and
.meaning: Every thought, every
emotion, still pure. It seems so long
ago now. . .
CUT TO:
8 FLASHBACK #2. - APPROXIMATELY 1946 8
The. father, ' cavorting awkwardly with his five year old
son, in front of and quite obviously for the cameras. A
photo op. Think JFK and John John. Once again, the
technology is probably 8 mm, coupled with a combination
of candid and -posed stills.
JACK FATE (V.O.)
...Once he was a real father, full of
love, compassion and forgiveness.
That didn't last too long. After
awhile, being a father didn't amount
to more than an official title... He
had lived a hard life, survived
gunfights, duels and warfare. Once he
beat his assassins with a cane after
they misfired from point blank range.
CUT TO:
12
9 FLASHBACK #3 - APPROXIMATELY 1952 9
Same combination of technologies and techniques. This
time, it's the proud mother and her embarrassed eleven
year old son. She tries to show him affection: a hug, a
kiss on the head. He reluctantly accepts it. Again,
some candid, some posed and planned.
JACK FATE (V.O.)
...My mother tried to love me, but I
think she was trying to kill me. I
don't think she recognized me as her
son. It was like I'd become a symbol
of everything that had gone wrong in
her life, in her world... I can tell
you one thing. She never loved him
either. She married him on the
rebound. She had so many suitors,
they didn't have enough chairs to
accommodate them all...
FADE IN:
10 EXT. HOLDING TANK - PRESENT - DAY 10
It is a facility not originally intended to hold
prisoners, but now forced to do so. The men, of various
ethnic backgrounds and political idealogies. Amongst
them, JACK FATE, a troubadour, a poet, an outsider, he's
seen better days and worse. A GUARD approaches and
addresses Jack.
GUARD
You're getting out Jack, somebody
sprung you.
JACK FATE
Must be my lucky day. Who would do
that?
GUARD
Some angels must have intervened on
your behalf. Maybe a bunch of people
put their savings together. Hell, I
don't know.
JACK FATE
I ain't felt free in a long time.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
GUARD
Keeping people from being free is a
big business.
JACK FATE.
What's going on out there?
GUARD
I don't know. It's a very complex
society, that we're living in. Lotta
■ people . moving, around, movin' the way
• fear makes ■ them move. Lotta severed
limbs and raped ‘women. It's the same
* old parade. ^This time though Jack, if
. ‘ . ' you wanna ride - in it ‘you better pay a
’ ■ - * ' ‘ fee,. ■ . *' ■■■
• V-.. V- ’ •* .- • JACK FATE
‘■IJ Ml. keep it in- mind.
An -inmate who sits ‘.nearby approaches Jack.
INMATE #1
Where you going. Jack?
10
• JACK FATE
Roswell .
INMATE #1
Yeah. Used to be it was the devil
who'd molest you all night and leave
Rosemary's Baby as a calling card.
Now, it's the alien. Well, say hello
. from me to the mysteriously dead.
Jack nods his. head and is led out, as the inmate returns
to his position.
CUT TO:
INT. NETWORK CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY 11
Nina is being chastised by an intimidating executive,
LUCIUS, as they .sit around a long conference table with
other network executives, including Lucius' equally
intimidating main flunkies, VALENTINE and NESTOR,
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
LUCIUS
I don't understand what went on here.
Where are the headliners? Where are
the big waves? The big names? Where
are the superstars?
VALENTINE
What's to understand? There's nothing
to understand. They're not here and
there not coming.
NESTOR
You mean to tell me, after all this,
we wind up with Jack Fate?
VALENTINE
Jack Nobody? Why?
NESTOR
That guy was over before he started.
NINA
. Are you finished?
LUCIUS
We're a.lJL finished!
NINA
We ultimately did not have the money
in the budget to attract a big name.
LUCIUS
You said we did.
NINA
Well, then, I was wrong. I'm sorry.
Lucius rises and approaches Nina menacingly.
LUCIUS
You're sorry? Something's beginning
to smell. It's giving off a bad odor.
The fumes are choking me. This isn't
grade school. You're not apologizing
to your teacher for talking out of
turn. We can make all kinds of ugly
things happen. I can have you killed
for the price of a cup of coffee.
Everybody in this room would look the
other way.
16
11
CONTINUED: (3)
LUCIUS
Plug .
There is no
plug
. Show me a
plug
and I'll pull
it.
There' s no
plug. There's no socket. There's no
wall .
VALENTINE
If I go down. I'm taking part of the
wall with me. Ha, ha, ha.
No one shares his laughter. Chagrined, he tries to change
the subject.
VALENTINE (cont'd)
By the way. Jack Fate, he's not a
blood relative is he?
i
LUCIUS
Shut up, Valentine.
VALENTINE
We should get out now. Wash our
hands .
Lucius, Valentine and Nestor rise to exit.
LUCIUS
You think you're getting off cheap
with Jack Fate. But believe me, the
price will be steep.
NINA
We'll look for some cuts in the
budget .
LUCIUS
Cuts? You need amputations. If you
wanna suffer agony for someone else's
happiness, you do it on your own time.
Now go away.
They exit, along with the flunkies, leaving Nina alone.
She looks around, uncertain as to which way to get out of
this place.
CUT TO:
15
11 CONTINUED: *(2.)~ • 11
For the first time, Nina is intimidated.
NINA
Lucius, for .god's sake, what are you
saying?
LUCIUS
Don't talk to me about god. I'm
talkin' about god the destroyer, not
■ • god the savior.
' NINA
Can we stop. kidding around?
; . \ ‘ ... LUCIUS
Why? Why should. I?. I can do whatever
.’ . I 'want. - We're .not accountable to
/ • anybody. We. cross lines. We bend
. truths This is a business. You
• • better get that info your pretty
• little head .and '-stamp it on your
brain
NINA
You know, this concert is supposed to
be about helping people in trouble.
LUCIUS
I'm in trouble. You're in trouble.
We're in trouble.
NINA
Well, maybe we can get somebody to
sing for us..
LUCIUS
Apparently not. You've got no pull.
You know charity is not about losing
money. Charity is like any other
business. It has to show a profit,
some kind of profit, or it doesn't go
on. Now, you might find that ironic,
but I don't. It makes perfect sense
to me.
VALENTINE
I think we should pull the plug.
(CONTINUED)
18
12 CONTINUED:
12
UNCLE SWEETHEART
You're only worried about your legacy,
honey. That's all you've ever cared
about. I can help. I have a personal
relationship with death. Death is my
dancing partner.
NINA
It doesn't matter at this point who
your dancing partner is. The things
you need to say are not the things I
need to hear.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
What are you fighting against, anyway?
Why are you so opposed to divine
judgment?
NINA
Who says I was?
Undaunted, he sidles up to her at the mirror.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I can read right through you. You're
a woman with a man's heart. And I'm
going to treat you like a man.
NINA
You don't understand. When they heard
Jack Fate's name mentioned there was
complete silence.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Like reverence. Like prayer.
NINA
I was doing the praying. That they
wouldn't cancel the whole thing.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Don't, they understand who Jack Fate
is?
She pivots around him again.
NINA
Nobody knows who he is anymore.
Nobody cares. He doesn't make
records. He doesn't tour.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
12
INT. NINA'S TRAILER ~ DAY
Nina, cramped in her trailer, harangues a lascivious
Uncle Sweetheart, in a dynamic that resembles Groucho
Marx and Margaret Dumont.
NINA
You have put me in a very bad
-position.
Uncle Sweetheart moves .in on her.
’ .UNCLE SWEETHEART
I. -can put you .in a very good position.
• . ’ I know ‘a lot of them. • I bet you do,
tool ■ Why don't we go back to your
place ? •'
• -.NINA' ’•
And do what? ’ .
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I could teach you farming in your
living room.
NINA
You know. Uncle Sweetheart, I'm not
your -straight man.
She pushes past him. He follows behind, attempting to
kiss her neck.
‘UNCLE SWEETHEART
I'm a 'straight man. Isn't that what
you're looking for?
NINA
(as she resists)
What was I thinking? I know what I
was thinking. I was thinking, "I'm
not going to discuss this with you."
You're not going to help. You're
gonna hurt me.
But, she hurts him instead, delivering an elbow to the
solar plexus leaving him doubled over as she cooly fixes
herself up in a mirror.
(CONTINUED)
19
12
CONTINUED
( 2 ) ' / •*
NINA (cont'd)
He doesn't do interviews.
’ do ’anything !
He doesn't
12
UNCLE SWEETHEART
He don't have- to. He's a legend.
Does Jesus have to walk on water twice
to make a point? And, he's virtually
' free.- Who else can you say that
about?
She moves. .to door and readies to exit.
■* • -■ NINA:./ *
-.virtually free; If he's virtually
.free,*he'.s the -only one I know...
*' ■ .UNCLE 'SWEETHEART ,
\ * You. ‘know, ‘ T- thought I saw a hubcap in
. ■ ” * • the., sky last, night . . •
She. exits He follows. *
. » , . # . #
• / NINA
Oh, did you. Maybe they were just
bright lights from a Japanese squid
boat.,
• On the soundstage floor he pulls out his bottle and
unscrews the cap.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Let's try the kickapoo cure.
NINA -
(disgusted)
You're like a Trojan horse pregnant
with Greeks.
She leaves him alone. He drinks to her.
CUT TO:
13 EXT. BUS STOP
A local, PROSPERO, sits and waits for the bus. Jack
Fate, with a small bag and a guitar, 30 ms him.
13
JACK FATE
Hey, Prospero. What's happening?
(CONTINUED)
20
13 CONTINUED:
13
PROSPERO
You missed it. Two eagles just killed
a pregnant rabbit.
JACK FATE
Rabbit must have done something.
Where you headin' ?
PROSPERO
I'm going down to west Florida. Got a
brother-in-law down there. A butcher
looking for a delivery boy. My
brother-in-law, he's a true friend.
One of the purest gifts from god.
JACK FATE
It's good to have at least one true
friend.
PROSPERO
(he notices Jack' s guitar and
bag)
You leaving town?
JACK FATE
Yeah .
PROSPERO
By choice, this time?
JACK FATE
Not really.
PROSPERO
Nothing ever really is. Where ya
heading?
Jack motions north.
JACK FATE
That way.
PROSPERO
That's a good direction. I've done
that a lot. One of my favorites. You
know what else is good? That way.
Prospero motions south.
(CONTINUED)
21
13 CONTINUED: (2)' : . 13
■ JACK. FATE
Maybe .next time.
PROSPERO
You -think there's going to be a next
time?
JACK FATE
For you, maybe.
We hear the rumble of the oncoming -bus .
•* • PROSPERO
.•’ You ever coming back?
. \ _ ' ■;* " . . JACK FATE
■ •■I did come back". .** . ,
* , . ■ 0 « S B -
With- that; -the -bus, arrives ,\ Jack Fate gets on.
■ ■ *. •/' . - '• V cut to:
* ' ' _ ... r
14 INT. BUS DAY 14
It is a rickety but colorful bus filled with
peasants/farmers and the disenfranchised. They carry
their children, their belongings, their livestock. Jack
.fits right in and yet stands apart. He climbs on and
addresses the BUS DRIVER.
JACK FATE
Does this bus go across the border?
BUS DRIVER
No, sir, you're going the wrong way.
JACK FATE
OK.
Ignoring the befuddled driver. Jack Fate takes a seat.
The mystified Bus Driver presses on.
CUT TO:
15 * INT. NEWSPAPER OFFICE - DAY 15
We angle on TOM FRIEND'S desk. There are numerous awards
• and citations for journalistic excellence, but they look
old and worn and frayed.
(CONTINUED)
22
15 CONTINUED: 15
We see old photos of Tom Friend, smiling, happy with
three different women, a dog, and a boy. Then, we see Tom
Friend himself, a burnt out journalist, numb to all the
horrors, except of his own existence, sits reading a
magazine. When he's finished, he rises. As he does, we
see he has an electronic monitor strapped to his ankle.
He walks through the newsroom to the EDITOR'S office.
The EDITOR sits at his desk, working and drinking, inside
a cubicle. He holds the first edition. The headline
reads: Transvestite Jumps To His Death. Outside around
him is a nest of journalistic activity. Tom Friend
enters .
EDITOR
What' re you working on?
TOM FRIEND
You know, I'm working on a few things.
EDITOR
Like what? Give me an idea.
TOM FRIEND
I don' t know. . .
EDITOR
Exactly, you don't know.
TOM FRIEND
What are you drinking?
EDITOR
What am I drinking? I'm drinking my
life away. What's the difference?
TOM FRIEND
No difference. It looked ltke you
stopped .
EDITOR
The doctors made me stop for awhile.
You want some? It will make you
forget that you're poor.
TOM FRIEND
Yeah, but I'm not gonna have any.
EDITOR
Well let me know if you change your
mind.
(CONTINUED)
15 CONTINUED: (2) -
K
' TOM FRIEND
What's up?
EDITOR
What's up? I got reporters wounded.
Held captive. Held hostage. I got
two reporters dead. I got reporters
on the front lines. I got reporters
undercover. With the- insurgents .
With the counter-insurgents. I got
-people inside -the capitol'. In the
■office of the President, himself--
.TOM. FRIEND ■ ;
•I've ’done all 1 that.
-■ ‘ . ' - EDITOR ■
*.\* .People .are 'still dying out there.
' * * . TOM .-.FRIEND
.-.people have; always died. So what's
•new? You 'can' t c abolish death.
' Writing about it doesn't change
anything.
23
15
EDITOR
You used -to believe it did.
. TOM FRIEND
I can't write that. You don't write
that. You just rewrite it. Over and
over again. Everybody's doing the
killing now. Everybody's doing the
dying. You cari' t tell the difference.
We're all* under the sentence of death.
What else is new.
EDITOR
Where does that leave you? Are you a
journalist or a novelist?
TOM FRIEND
Same thing out here. What's this all
about?- I got things to do. I got my
awards, I got my scars. I got nothing
to prove to you. Look at you. You
live peacably. You live a private
life, while below you the earth reeks
with desolation and runs with blood.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
24
15 CONTINUED: (3)
TOM -FRIEND (cont'd)
You're so high and mighty with your
printing press. You've done
unspeakable things. You've seen
unspeakable things. You've caused
unspeakable things. For what, for
business men to enrich themselves?
EDITOR
Now wait a minute. Right and wrong
are anything but black and white.
TOM FRIEND
For you maybe.
EDITOR
You don't realize how good you have
it. You're accountable to nobody and
everybody knows it. The whole
civilized world shakes in its boots
when you come. And you know why?
You can make heroes out of bums and
villains out of good upstanding people
with the stroke of your pen.
You've got the right to slander
anybody, assassinate anybody's
character. You can tell any kind of
story you want and you never have to
reveal your sources. It's called
freedom of the press, first amendment
rights. You're a reporter and a
reporter looks up to no one. Remember
that . . .
(then)
You're like a son to me. Why do you
hate me?
TOM FRIEND
What do you want?
EDITOR
There's a benefit concert.
TOM FRIEND
A benefit concert?
EDITOR
Yeah for medical relief. It's going
to be broadcast on the network. The
network is government controlled. I
wanna know if it's a PR thing.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED': (4).' '
EDITOR (cont'd)
■ i wann^' know if they're trying to make
themselves look compassionate. I
wanna know .if it' s some kind of setup.
• Or if itf s some nefarious ploy to weed
out the. rebels. There's a story
there.
TOM FRIEND
Come on. That's no story. That's
every story. That xs. the story.
. , EDITOR .
Make it -into something. Or, make
’ sgnething up- •
. TOM "FRIEND'-
.(pause) ’.
- .. How much time. do. I have to do this? I
‘ . ..don't have.'a lot 6f time. ,
■ EDITOR ; .
... A lot- of time?/; Lincoln delivered the
■ ■ .-.••immortal Gettysburg Address in under
five minutes . ‘Don't tell me about
.time-. •
Pause.
EDITOR
OK, here's something else. . .there' s
only one performer.
TOM FRIEND
Only one?
EDITOR-
Yeah, Jack .Fate.
Tom absorbs this information. This has clearly more
significance then he anticipated. He is thrown by the
revelation then:
TOM FRIEND (cont'd)
OK... I changed my mind.
EDITOR
About what.
TOM FRIEND
About what? About everything.
(CONTINUED)
26
15 CONTINUED: (5)
15
EDITOR
About everything?
Editor holds up his liquor bottle, invitingly. Tcm
Friend, takes it and pours a drink.
TOM FRIEND
Everything . . .
The Editor gives Tom the key to unlock his ankle monitor.
CUT TO:
16 INT. BUS - NIGHT
Jack Fate and a SOLDIER sit together. The soldier
speaks. As he does, we move down the aisle of the bus,
looking at the busdriver, the passengers, their faces,
their hope and disappointment and resignation, then out
the window at the squalor and remnants of violence and
war .
SOLDIER
I'm from a small village in the
mountains. We don't even have a
doctor. So I joined the rebels. I
didn't know what the answers were. I
still don't. I just knew you had to
take sides. You had to fight. There
were no sidelines. There were no
innocent bystanders. Only the dead
and the living. Pretty soon, I saw
the rebel movement was corrupt. The
leadership were lying to the people.
They wanted to replace the old
government with a new government which
was just as bad. They were taking-
money, making promises they had no
intention of keeping. A small army of
counter-revolutionaries grew to battle
the rebels in the mountains where the
government forces were ineffective. I
changed sides. No one ever . noticed .
This new movement was fighting for the
truth the rebels supposedly believed
in but really didn't. Then I realized
that this movement was funded by the
very government I wanted to topple.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
27
16
CONTINUED
% ■
SOLDIER (cont'd)
By that .time, I. realized I didn't want
’the' .government to fall. It would only
he replaced with anarchy. I started
believing in preserving the republic,
so I- joined the government forces. I
fought bravely for the cause.
Suffered wounds, sickness. My own
family -turned on me. Disowned me. I
tried to explain, but .they wouldn't
listen;. Then one day, we wiped out a
small village. We were told something
about rebels having ’infiltrated. But
it-' was a- lie. .:.The' men were already
■'dead or old. All that was left were
women .and ‘.children. It ‘was my village.
I 'couldn't .participate . I ran. I was
caiight and -dishonorably discharged.
Now,.- I'm returning to my village, a
• village 'that' .may .no , longer even exist,
■'disabled, dishonored; shamed.
16
The camera, moves past .Jack, listening to the soldier,
face, a mask of loss and pain. He offers Jack ?
drink. Jack Fate declines. The soldier offers Jack some
pills. Jack declines again.
SOLDIER (cont'd)
When I sleep, my dreams become my
reality. If only I would live in my
dreams.* Do you ever dream?
JACK FATE
Yeah, I dream. In my dreams I'm
walking through 'fire with intense
heat, but I don't pay any attention to
my dreams .
The soldier ’takes his pills with the liquor and goes to
sleep, as we'
DISSOLVE TO:
17 INT . TOM FRIEND'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
17
Ton Friend's woman, PAGAN LACE, kneels before a small
shrine. It includes candles, fruit, small totems and
fetishes, jars of liquid, red and yellow, a damaged bust
of a woman and a painting of the president of this ritual
unnamed country in military garb. : In a *® pe gi^counts
of sorts she counts, she washes, she pours, she counts
again while she prays.
(CONTINUED)
28
17 CONTINUED:
17
PAGAN LACE
Lord, how are they increased that .
trouble me. Many are they that rise
up against me... Arise O'Lord: Save me,
oh my god, for thou hast smitten all
nine enemies upon the cheek bene, t ou
hast broken the teeth of the
ungodly . . .
Tom Friend enters and kneels beside Pagan Lace^ He is
silent and sullen. She ignores him at first until
completes her ritual. xhen.
PAGAN LACE
What's the matter, Tom? You look
disturbed .
TOM FRIEND
Yea, 'cause there's always something
the matter, right?
PAGAN LACE
I don't want there to be.
TOM FRIEND
You don't understand. You can't stay
honest out there even if you wanted
to .
PAGAN LACE
What do you mean? What' s changed?
TOM FRIEND
The pervert is the top man now. Man
of the hour.
She becomes distracted, listening to the voice inside her
head. Annoyed, He starts to pack. Then:
PAGAN LACE
What did you say?... Where are you
going?
TOM FRIEND
I'm gonna be gone for a couple of
days. Maybe you shouldn't be here
when I get back.
(CONTINUED)
29
17 CONTINUED: ; (2)' . ..
17
. *. • PAGAN -LACE
But 'I want to be with you. We can
have a good time.
TOM 'FRIEND
Good times don't last long.
PAGAN LACE
Why are you making everything so
.tragic?'. .
TOM FRIEND
.-.Tragic? What do you know about
tragic? Every period in history has
< ‘ bee.n - more 'or, less tragic.
He continue? packing'. .'He adjusts his -boot, and we see a
knife' protruding from it. Pagan drifts off, re P® ating ,
the prayer- to" hers61f , mumbling, lips moving. Then, she
is seized by a new thought.;, as if she's been told to ask
this question.;
PAGAN LACE
Tom, if you had to kill somebody, how
would you do it? With a gun, a knife,
or a club?
TOM FRIEND
With my bare hands.
He embraces her.
TOM FRIEND (cont'd)
Look, it's an overcrowded world, it's
hard to get to the top. There s a
long line at the elevator.
PAGAN
It doesn't matter, Tom. We'll take
the stairs. Let me go with you.
As they embrace, Tom opens an ornate box on a dresser.
Inside - is a pistol and hypodermic needle ■ _.
Pagan Lace on the neck, like a vampire. She fully
capitulates, as we:
CUT TO:
30
18 INT; BUS - NEXT DAY
Jack Fate and Soldier, both asleep. On the bus, somebody
has a radio. The bus suddenly comes to a stop. There is
a commotion outside. Through the window, we see a group
of armed men harassing some villages and blocking the
path of the bus. The two men awaken and observe.
JACK FATE
What's going on? Who are these guys?
SOLDIER
The Counter-revolutionaries. They've
stopped the bus .
JACK FATE
Where are they from?
SOLDIER
Rome, Paris, Vienna, Moscow. Who
knows? They're from wherever they're
from.
JACK FATE
What now? What do they want with the
bus?
SOLDIER
Anything they can get away with. They
might just harass us and let us go.
They might kill us or force us to join
them. They might drug us. Who knows.
They don't trust anybody, not even
their commander.
We see the soldiers harassment has intensified.
SOLDIER (cont'd)
Violence is the only tool they know,
the only one in their box. You can't
build a house with only one tool.
I've got that tool in my box, too.
I'll show them.
He gets up, gets his gun from his bag and jumps off the
bus. We stay on the face of Jack Fate. He hears angry
words exchanged. The bus abruptly takes off. Jack Fate
looks out the rear window as the rebels assassinate the
soldier in a flurry of gunfire. Jack, might wince a bit
reflexively at the sound of the gunfire.
(CONTINUED)
31
18 CONTINUED:' 18
The women and children shriek. But Jack's reaction is
not of fear dr surprise. He's come to expect this m the
world he lives in. -
’ BUS DRIVER
They. have no ideology. They'd push
both Jesus and Judas aside. . .
As the bus rambles on, we
CUT TO:
19 INT. BAR - DAY ‘ 19
BOBBY -CUPID, young,- volatile, reckless, fearless,
■ foolish, devotee of .'Jack -Fate, his main and possibly only
remaining apostle is. tending bar. ‘ It's early in the
.morning and there' s , one DRUNK drinking. ■
* ■' * ; BOBBY CUPID. j
• Sun's coming up..‘
■ • ' 'DRUNK !
,Big shit. It comes up. every day. I
Bother me when- the sun don't cone up.
BOBBY- CUPID
I'll do that. . .
Bobby Cupid walks away.
DRUNK
Hey, do I need to ring a bell to get a
refill? You see my glass is empty.
BOBBY CUPID
Your glass is always empty. And so is
the space on the counter where your \
money's supposed to be.
DRUNK
Kid, you keep this shit up and you
ain't gonna make it to middle age.
BOBBY CUPID
Put your money on the counter.
DRUNK
I ain't kidding.
(CONTINUED)
j
32
19 CONTINUED:
19
BOBBY CUPID
No, of course not.
DRUNK
Tell me, I'd like to know who's
presiding over this slaughterhouse --
you or me?
BOBBY CUPID
Look, tough guy. If you want the
world to be flat, it's flat. If you
want it to be round, it can be round.
DRUNK
You son of a bitch. I know a lot of
things .
BOEBY CUPID
The more you know, the nore you'll
suffer .
DRUNK
You got that right.
Phone rings. Bobby Cupid answers it.
BOBBY CUPID
Hello... who? Jack Fate!... hell yeah,
I'll accept the charges ... Hey ... What ' s
that?... What an I doing? ... You' re
shitting me. You're out of the can?
...You're gonna perform?... A benefit
concert? OK... No, I think I can get
away... I got some sick time coming to
me... Shit, I'll be there before you
hang up... Oh, yeah, watch me. Since
when did you start doing benefits from
the lockup?
Bobby hangs up and prepares to leave.
BOBBY CUPID (cont'd)
Hey, man. No hard feelings. But I'm
sure the next guy that serves you a
drink will draw the same conclusions.
The drunk blocks Bobby Cupid's path.
DRUNK
I've had enough out of you.
(CONTINUED)
33
CONTINUED:' (2) ; * „ 1
The Drunk pulls a gun and lunges at Bobby Cupid. Bobby
grabs a large birdcage with the large bird still inside
it 'and smacks the drunk upside the head. The bird
SQUAWKS and flies around inside the cage. In short order
the man is down and out. Bobby Cupid looks up. There s
no one in the bar. He throws on his snakeskin jacket and
walks out into the harsh sunlight.
CUT TO:
INT. -SOUNDSTAGE - ‘DAY
Two crew guys working- on the stage.
\ .ONE : \ •
• • I’ took my- wife to, Russia. We had a
..'"guide o.ver- there -gained Rudolph.
■ *!'•■ i TWO
• - • -’.You don't .say.?.- - .
-We were leaving, and it started to
snow, . and I said to my wife, "Look
dear, it's snowing." And the guide
says,. "No, it's raining." And my wife
says to me, "It must be raining.
Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear."
They exchange a 'glance.
INT. BUS STATION - DAY 1
It is a bustling station: People come and go on their way
to who knows where. Jack Fate hangs up the pay phone and
begins to head towards his bus • Another person
immediately takes the phone. They check for change.
Jack is intercepted by a beautiful but tarted up,
ynige^iy attired woman. The bus starts its engine.
WOMAN
I know you, do you remember me?
JACK FATE
I don't know, my memory's blocked.
(CONTINUED)
34
21 CONTINUED:
21
WOMAN
Down on Coliseum Street, the Inferno
Club? I was the lady in red, you made
up a song for me.
JACK FATE
Oh yeah. Lady in red. Slow, dreamy
ballad .
WOMAN
The Inferno Club burned down. You
were there that night.
JACK FATE
Oh was I?
WOMAN
Would you like to go out? Sensuality
is my specialty.
JACK FATE
I got a radical hostility towards
sensuality.
WOMAN
Oh, do you. How do you feel about
bikinis?
JACK FATE
Bikinis infuriate me.
WOMAN
Oh, you sound like a bad man. You got
anymore songs in you?
JACK FATE
I don't know.
WOMAN
Let's go find out, shall we?
Jack checks his watch. It's broken.
JACK FATE
All right, let's go see.
They walk away together as Jack's bus pulls out of the
station.
CUT TO:
35
22 INT. PALATIAL MANSION. - ‘.DAY
A darkly disturbed, voracious and ambitious man, EDMUND,
emerges from behind a curtained area. We get a glimpse
behind the curtain, of .a sick old man being attended to.
Edmund is joined by another man, EDGAR, as they walk
purposely to some destination, reviewing and signing
papers. -
■ ■ •. EDGAR
* Does he have any idea about this
concert?
•/ . * EDMUND
Of .course. 'not'. \
i . • . ■ ' ( ,
. V ■ .EDGAR -
Should *we ’tell him?
* ’ . -- * EDMUND.'
• ■ • . ; of 'course . not ••
• * . • , 4
• / EDGAR '
You saw' who the headliner is going to
be .
EDMUND
I like Stravinsky and Beethoven.
Schubert's really good. Modern music
doesn't do much for me. And, frankly,
it doesn't do much for the President,
either .
EDGAR
At least it's not some banjo player.
Is .there anything we should do?
EDMUND
; If they had gotten a big star to
headline the concert, we might need to
take action. Disrupt it. Discredit
it. But they couldn't get a big star.
Big stars think it's too dangerous
here. Big- stars like doing benefits,
it eases their guilt ridden
consciences, but only if the benefit
is held someplace where they won't be
shot at. Big stars don't understand
what's going on here.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
22
EDMUND (cont'd)
And big stars don't want to put their
lives on the line for a cause they
don't understand.
EDGAR
Except Jack Fate.
EDMUND
Jack Fate doesn't understand anything.
And# he's not a big star.
They chortle at this. Then, they stop. Edmund signs the
last piece of paper and they go their separate ways.
CUT TO:
INT. STAGE - DAY 5
Work is progressing on the stage. Nina and Uncle
Sweetheart stand in the midst.
NINA
He' s not here .
UNCLE SWEETHEART
How do you know?
NINA
I don't see him.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Maybe he's like Claude Raines in that
movie# "The Invisible Man".
NINA
Who? If - he doesn't show up you'd
better get invisible.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
You gotta learn how to wait. You're
going too fast. You gotta wait for
life to unfold sometimes.
NINA
Wait? Like some animal caught in a
trap waiting for someone to deliver
the last blow?
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 23
\ ' *
’ UNCLE SWEETHEART
No, no,; no. Not that kind of wait.
More’ like a fisherman when he can't go
to sea, he. repairs nets.
NINA
Fisherman or not, you don't
understand, we're hanging on by a
thread.
Uncle Sweetheart- steps up to Nina. Veronica and looks
uncomfortably, into her face’-.' She holds her ground.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I .can see my reflection in the pupil
•• -of your .eye. . .
* *, * • • . . #
.N-INA
• i . % -
■ '■ . • Youhaye no idea, where he is.
UNCLE- 'SWEETHEART
■*" •’ You' 're exhausting your emotional
/ repertoire.' If all of us are hanging
by a thread we ain't got a chance
anyway.’
He gives up and walks away.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
(sotto)
Why don't you go have your tits
tightened. . .
Before he exits, he turns to Nina Veronica.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
I'm going around the corner to get
some fried chicken, grits and sweet
• potatoes. If I hear anything I'll let
you know.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - DAY 24
Dawn approaches as the bus Jack rides on follows its
route through the streets of this unnamed city, past
burnt out buildings, burnt out people. Past signs and
storefronts in a variety of foreign languages. It is
quiet like a Sunday morning.
(CONTINUED)
38
24 CONTINUED:
24
We follow the bus on a serpentine trail, down obscure
side streets past boarded up buildings and closed
warehouses. The distinguishing characteristic that
unifies these disparate locations are gigantic Mao-like
posters plastered everywhere of an intimidating,
mythical, strong-arm leader in the Stalin, Tito,
Khomeini, Hussein, Pinochet, Noriega mode. He stares out
at us. Big Brother-like, ubiquitously, with accompanying
aphoristic slogans.
The bus stops in the middle of a bustling multi-cultured
downtown. Signs and speech are in every conceivable
language, every conceivable alphabet. Jack Fate exits
with his guitar and his bag and walks to a once grand,
now dilapidated hotel. THE WHITMAN. He enters.
CUT TO:
25 INT. HOTEL - DAY 25
Jack Fate walks toward the lobby, past the broken down
men, who now inhabit this place. On the wall is a Diego
Rivera-like mural depicting the great works of the
President. He approaches the DESK CLERK and picks up a
pen .
JACK FATE
Place looks familiar. I think I
stayed here before.
DESK CLERK
Well, welcome back.
JACK FATE
Your pen's still out of ink.
DESK CLERK
Not a problem, sir. You here for the
concert?
JACK FATE
Yeah. Isn't everybody?
DESK CLERK
Oh, yes. They're trying to change the
social order. Get rid of the ruling
class. Get corruption out of this
state.
(CONTINUED) •
CONTINUED:
• JACK. FATE ^
That's a ‘worthy ambition.
DESK CLERK
This whole country's preoccupied with
waste. Will you be in need of a
woman/ sir? -
JACK FATE .
' • What kind of woman you mean?
. DESK CLERK
We got ’all kinds/ We got slave women,
■ - *•. -immigrant women, white women, black
.women, young ’-women, old, middle-aged,
. rich,* poor middle -class women, free
.* • women,.. Western' wojnen, .‘Northern women,
. •;* Southern women, educated, illiterate,
- -.radical vomen, modern. They run the
■'.gamut; Which. .'kind you like?
- ‘ 7 ’ - ’-'-JACK ’FATE
• I just. wanna sleep. Lemme have a
room.
DESK CLERK
I'm gonna give' you the same room Nixon
slept in the night before he gave that
famous speech to the press, "You won t
have Nixon to kick around anymore.
Gonna give you that room. It's got
the most comfortable bed in the house.
JACK FATE
I'll take - that one. What are your
politics, anyway?
DESK CLERK
I 'don't belong to any political party.
I guess you could call me a feminist,
sir... Your pen sir. It's filled.
Jack Fate signs in. The Desk Clerk dangles the keys.
Jack takes them, and heads to the elevator.
40
26 INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY
Jack Fate enters the room. It is a sparsely furnished,
plain room. Above the bed is a portrait of the
President. He throws his stuff down and picks up the
phone. He dials. It rings. Then:
(V.O.)
You have reached the official
residence of the President. Built in
1714. Burned down in 1809. Rebuilt
in 1818. Burned down again in 1841.
Rebuilt in 1853. Burned down again in
Jack Fate hangs up. He opens his guitar case and pulls
out a crumpled piece of paper. It contains another phone
number. He dials. It rings. We
CUT TO:
27 FLASHBACK #4 - APPROXIMATELY 1963 - HIGH?
This flashback is more ominous, darker. It is purely
handheld, hidden footage of the father, being driven in a
limousine at night to an unspecified location. The
driver opens the door, and exits the limo. . He approaches
the front door of a modest house. A beautiful YOUNG
WOMAN answers. He enters. As he does, a series of
stills is snapped...
JACK FATE
...My father controlled a lot of
things, a lot of people, but he
couldn't control my mother. He
sacrificed everything he ever wanted
to reach his destiny. But there were
things in his head that he could never
get out of his head. He had worked
himself up from nothing. From the
cathouses and gambling joints, he rose
to the top rung of civilization. He
knew the value of hard work. He knew
that if he made one false step, he'd
lose his place forever. But when he
reached the top, he stopped working.
CUT TO:
41
y
28
INT. PALATIAL BEDROOM -‘.DAY
The sick old man in the bed doesn't stir when the phone
rings. Instead, a caretaker answers.
CARETAKER
Hellp. . .
CUT TO:
29 INT. HOTEL ROOM 7 DAY
Jack; Fate hangs up;'
29
CUT TO:
■30 V INT:. "DIVE BAR - ‘NIGHT ;
30
• Uncle • Sweetheart sits at -the'- bar, drinking,
band plays cover versions -of Jack Fate songs.
• enters. ■ Uncle" Sweetheart; rushes up to him.
On stage,
Jack ■
a
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Hey, ‘ hey, give your Uncle Sweetheart a
hug ...
Uncle Sweetheart hugs a reticent Jack Fate.
’UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Hey, you're all skin and bones.
JACK FATE
Aren't we all. Anyway, I don't have
to throw. my weight around. Look at
you.- . You've put on a few pounds.
. ' UNCLE SWEETHEART
Eating from the tree of knowledge of
good and evil.
• Uncle Sweetheart takes Jack into the bar.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
' Lemme show you this place. I own a
piece of it.
JACK FATE
Which piece?
(CONTINUED)
42
30 CONTINUED:
30
UNCLE SWEETHEART
It changes every day. I've been told
the profit potential will eventually
offset the operating expenses. Could
be a gold mine. Who knows? Come on,
sit down. There's a chair. Plant
your ass in it. You look good. You
got the jail pale. It suits ya .
JACK FATE
What do you got cooked up, Sweetheart?
What's your angle?
Uncle Sweetheart is happy to oblige.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
This is going to be a patriotic
rhapsody, Jack. Here's the deal.
You're working for the people. The
peasants. The children. Imagine
yourself being reincarnated in the
civil war in Eabylon.
JACK FATE
Civil war in Babylon?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Come on son, snap out of it. You
gotta stand up on your tiptoes to see
the future.
JACK FATE
You're the same old sorry sight. Same
old baggy-pants philosopher.
‘ UNCLE SWEETHEART
Yes. And remember this, if nothing
else — we philosophers cannot change
our minds. Look, man, this is our big
chance .
JACK FATE.
Another big chance.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Yeah, that's right. You do this show,
this benefit, it' s gonna be broadcast
all over the world. You get your
career back on track, maybe a tour,
maybe a record, maybe both.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
43
30 CONTINUED: (2) ‘ ' -
* UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Make a little money AND save the
world, all at .the same time. It's all
politics. Jack; and money is the
mother's milk of politics. And we'll
be raking it in.'
JACK FATE'
You're so crazy. You know you're not
gonna make any. of those things happen.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
.. So? .
Jack laughs'.. So does Uncle ‘ Sweetheart .
‘ : . •*. '..‘UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
• 4 - . ■ *. So, will. -you play.?
* • * , * r . . j
‘ -v .* . . JACK FATE.
• --.Of .course I'll play- ■ You know I'll
• * '• play . ■ . . •_ .
' ’-'UNCLE '‘SWEETHEART
' Good. .1 already told 'em 1 you would.
Uncle Sweetheart enjoys his own joke.
* JACK FATE
You couldn't get anybody else, could
you?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I didn't even attempt it. Didn't even
cross my mind. Nobody could be like
you, and a great many have tried. I
know it'll come off.
•JACK FATE
I need some boys to back me up.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I got some musicians here. Jack. Some
cats who are never late.
JACK FATE
What do you mean? Late for what?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Well,. they never play behind the beat.
This fails to get a rise out of Jack.
(CONTINUED)
44
30 CONTINUED: (3) 30
JACK FATE
Oh, yeah. That kind of late.
Uncle Sweetheart motions to the stage.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Feast your eyes on The Hand Of Fate.
The best and only Jack Fate cover band
in the world. . .
Uncle Sweetheart stands up. Ubiquitous whiskey bottle in
hand.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Ladies and gentlemen, I have a special
treat for you this evening. Not only
do we possess the Hand of Fate this
evening. We possess the whole body!
Attention shifts to a chagrined Jack Fate. The band and
the audience are excited at his presence in the club.
Reluctantly, he is coaxed on stage. He huddles with the
band, conferring for a moment, then kicks into "All Along
The Watchtower"
LYRICS:
"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to
the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth.
None of them along the line know what any of it is
worth . "
"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a
joke .
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not
our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting
late . "
(CONTINUED)
30
CONTINUED; ' (4)' - • ■ .
' K 1 ‘
All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants,
too . •
Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.
When ‘it's over, -.Jack thanks the band. Everyone responds
enthusiastically.* Clearly, the magic exists. But Jack
unstraps .his guitar .and exits. As he passes Uncle
Sweetheart:' •
. ..-.‘JACK -FATE ••
. .. They 'play., good. • ‘ •/.
' . v : 'UNCLE SWEETHEART
'■ ..ll told 'you they vrpu'ld.
;.'JACK FATE
: ’Where*' d you. get-' .these guys?
\ UNCLE SWEETHEART
• Appeared before my eyes.
JACK FATE
What a pleasant surprise.
"UNCLE SWEETHEART
Me too, I was hypnotized.
This is a game they play. A rhyming game. Satisfied, Jack
exits.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET -'NEXT DAY
Jack walks past a group of homeless people who stand
around a bonfire, the radio preacher's omnipresent voice
•bellows out of the same homeless man's broken boom box.
RADIO PREACHER (V.O.)
The only power the government has is
to crack down on criminals. When
there aren't enough criminals, you
make them. You make so many things a
crime that it becomes impossible to
live without breaking laws.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
46
31 CONTINUED: 31
RADIO PREACHER (cont'd)
Who wants a nation of law-abiding
citizens? What's there in that for
anyone? You pass laws that can't be
observed or enforced or even
objectively interpreted. You create a
nation of lawbreakers and then you
cash in on guilt. That's the system,
that's the game. Once you understand
that you'll sleep a lot easier.
Remember, life is like riding in a
taxi, even if you're not going
anywhere, the meter is ticking.
A pickup truck with armed men glides by. They eye Jack
warily as if they recognize him.
CUT TO:
32 EXT. SOUNDSTAGE - MORNING 32
Jack reaches the SOUNDSTAGE and is stopped by an ARMED
MAN • {in civilian clothes). The man stops Jack, gazes
into his eyes, scrutinizing him, trying to look within.
ARMED MAN
How'd they ever get you to do this? I
didn't think you performed anymore.
They must be scraping the bottom of
the barrel.
JACK FATE
I might have a few songs left. How'd
they get you into this? You used to
be a student. You know how to use one
of those?
ARMED MAM
Yeah, they taught me. I can shoot it,
clean it, and take it apart. They
taught me a bunch of other stuff too.
I can tell a military officer's rank
just by looking at his insignia. You
ever hear of the Brown Bomber?
JACK FATE
Name rings a bell.
ARMED MAN
The only boxer buried in Arlington.
Joe Lewis. Great American.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
47
32 CONTINUED: *' ‘ ’ ’ . 32
ARMED MAN (cont'd)-
Lived- a tough life. You wouldn't try
anything, would you?
•' JACK FATE
I got a lotof respect for a gun.
The Armed Man motions for Jack to enter.
CUT TO:
33 EXT. ‘ SOUNDSTAGE*-; MORNING ■ 33
Jack Fate enters’-.and walks past an ANIMAL WRANGLER, who
has .his .vehicl'e parked .-.'in ■ front of a pen set up for the
animals to roam- around, in. They include a pig, a snake,
a goat, a- sheep, 'and a' HUMAN who .sits quietly amongst
theitu.vHe and Jack exchange, eye . contact, as he seems to
■ ■ prepare-'Some sort of barbecue pit. He heats the
coals; cleans. the. grill, sharpens utensils. As he talks we
. will examine- the similarities. 'between the animals and the
human's: ‘‘Their ' eyes, - noses, hair, etc.
‘ 7 ‘ ■' : jack' FATE
■ '‘Beautiful animals.
ANIMAL WRANGLER
I'll .thank you. But it's God that
deserves -the credit. They have no
time to bother with success or getting
rich. They have no fantasies of
glory.' They don't borrow money to buy
things that decrease in value while
they own it. See, they're beautiful
'cause they just are. They do what
they do. A lion don't try to be a
tiger. A' rabbit don't do an
impression of a monkey. They don't
try to be what they're not. Unlike
.us. Us human beings. I don't care if
I ever see another one. I'm not
talking about animals, I'm talking
about human beings. Every human
being, all of mankind. The only
reason they're here is to destroy the
planet. Human beings have been sent
here on some ungodly mission. These
animals, they were here first. They
roamed freely, each one with its own
identity and place. Animals should be
cherished. They bring joy to the
world .
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
48
33 CONTINUED: 33
ANIMAL WRANGLER (cont'd)
The animal kingdom, the greatest
kingdom on earth. You know who's
destroying the earth? Not the
animals. The tiger the lion, the
cheetah, the snake, the monkey, the
baboon, the giraffe, the bear, the
panther, the dog, fish, the birds, all
perfect in their original forms. Then
— man came in. Who created him and
for what purpose? Still a mystery.
Why is he here? A mystery. He's a
trespasser. Doesn't know his place.
Of course he doesn't know his place,
he doesn't have one. Man, the bear
hunter, the fur trapper, the deer
chaser. The lowest form in existence.
A spoiler, an agitator, stirs up
trouble wherever he goes.- The zoo,
the aquarium, prisons for animals.
These animals cannot learn anything
from mankind. Man doesn't have a
thing to teach them. Man is here to
conquer and destroy and after he's
done with the animals, he'll turn on
himself. You'll see. I avoid looking
at human beings. They disgust me so
much with all their atom boir.bs and
automobiles. Two shivering bicycle
mechanics, from Dayton, Ohic,
inventing a contraption called an
airplane. How insane. All the forms
and shapes. They build hospitals for
diseases they create. Human beings?
Alone with their secrets. No one
truly knows them. If I go through the
day without seeing one, I consider
that a good day. My soul has not been
contaminated. The only righteous
human beings in my book are the
children and the elderly. Muslim,
Jew, Christian, atheist, secular
humanist. All these religions,
ideologies, titles, all the same.
Going down toward the same pit. I
look at a crack in the sidewalk and I
find it more beautiful than any human
being. You know what I mean?
JACK FATE
Yeah, something like a curse, I guess,
being born.
(CONTINUED)
49
33 CONTINUED:' (2) :
K • ’
■ ANIMAL WRANGLER
That'.s right. ‘ We live in fear. We're
afraid -'cause we know we're going to
die. Animals don't know they're going
to -die. They have no fear. They live
in the moment.
(saddling a horse)
Man -is a wretched thing, compared to
the mountains, the clouds, the water,
the insects, the -wind. . . a wretched
.. thing.' 'Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound .that saved a' wretch like me. I
hope- when I die, ' I'm. reincarnated as
■ ah animal. Many lives ago I must have
„ been, rabbit . : T know,-' because in this
life, ' I don' t stand, up for myself.
Next t.ime, if ’ I .-q'an, .I'm going to come
back as .ah' ox. . .Animals, they have no
*■ * ^consciousness, of -.death, unlike us.
■ - • Amazing grace -'Indeed. Knowledge of
. it,- of .death, • it' s a harmful thing.
’’It -holds us. bac’k. It makes you crazy,
- knowledge of death. Amazing grace
indeed.
JACK FATE
Oh,' man. .
ANIMAL WRANGLER
I'll. tell you something else. In most
societies they used to sacrifice
animals. Bulls and sheep and things.
In place of human beings. But today,
we do it the other way around, we
sacrifice* the human being. Like the
Aztecs, like the Incas, like the big
corporations. Amazing grace indeed;
And with’ that, he begins to slaughter an animal for the
barbecue as Uncle Sweetheart shows up and guides Jack
inside .•
UNCLE SWEETHEART
What was that all about?
JACK FATE
Guy's into animals, I guess.
33
(CONTINUED)
50
!
33 CONTINUED: (3) 33
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Come on inside, I gotta show you this
place. You'll love it. It's right up
your alley. The networks are really
behind this thing. Puttin' up a lot
of dough for this... It's a bitched up
world. Jack. You know what I mean?
The only way we can protect ourselves
is by going mad.
They enter the soundstage.
CUT TO:
34 INT. SOUNDSTAGE 34
ANGLE ON, the two crew guys from before, as they work.
CREW GUY #1
All this talk about race this, and
race that . Ethnic this and ethnic
that. Lernme tell you something,
there's only two races, workers and
bosses .
ANGLE ON, Uncle Sweetheart and Jack as they pass the crew
guys and others, making their way across the soundstage.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
This place is historic. Jack.
This is one of the first TV stations
ever built down here. It's like the
Metropolitan Opera House. The Astors
and the Vanderbilts sat side by side
in boxes here. Houdini tied himself
up in ropes and chains and hung
himself from the rafters and yelled,
"Watch me now, see what can I do!"...
Some famous star from the Jazz Age was
disfigured right on this stage during
a live show. I can't remember the
sucker's name. What the hell was that
guy's name?
JACK FATE
(looking around)
I don't know who you're talking about.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
Y ■ Y- UNCLE SWEETHEART
How long' s it been since you played to
this many people?
JACK FATE
I don't see anybody here.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Nah, they're not here yet, but they
will be. In droves. Masses of the
“adoring public, acolytes. Imagine it.
* Pandemonium, mass hysteria.
: JACK. FATE ' .*
. 'you're a '-sick man-. .
They wind up .at 'Nina/.s ‘ trailer as she steps out.
‘ ‘ ;.NINA
/At. least we ‘agree on something.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I told you he's here. You were
worried. Miss Veronica, meet Jack
■ Fate.
‘NINA
Oh, yeah. I had one of your first
albums. It's a shame. It's one of
the things my husband took during the
divorce. So you think you're ready
for this?.
JACK FATE
Yeah, I'm ready as I'll ever be.
■ Look, I got some things to do. I'll
see you later, maybe.
.He exits.
NINA
I hope you got this cat's priorities
in order. Have you explained the
restrictions, the limitations, the
boundaries, the rules?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Well we've talked about it.
52
34 CONTINUED: (2)
34
NINA . . .
I hope you know we're dealing with rne
here and now.... You can't compare t e
here and now with the there and
then.... I don't care what he s done in
the past.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Calm down. Everything's under
control .
NINA
Are his songs going to be
recognizable? 'That's what I want to
know .
UNCLE SWEETHEART
All of his songs are recognizable,
even if they're not recognizable.
Don't worry about it.
NINA t . .
Look. The whole world is going to be
our studio audience. We don t want to
ruffle any feathers.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
One huge, immense, gigantic studio
audience. The whole world.
NINA
Yes, that's right,
deliver?
Will we be able to
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Of course we're going todeliver. We
don't conspire against liberty, we
don't reduce the public to slavery.
We know right where we are and where
everything else is. We don t chase
things that are out of reach.
And with that, he awkwardly backs away.
NINA
(to herself)
You' re so spontaneous .
CUT TO:
53
35 ■ INT.- SOONDSTAGE- - -DAY 35
Jack steps on the makeshift stage and joins the band. He
plugs in, counts .down, and they launch into "Wicked
Messenger"-
Lyrics:
There was a wicked messenger
From Eli he did come,
With a mind- that, multiplied
The smallest matter.* ’■ ■
‘ When questioned .who had .sent for him,
He' answered' with his. thumb,-
For his tongue it could not speak, but only flatter.
• m . * ,, *
He stayed behind the assembly hall,
It was there he made his bed.
Oftentimes he could be seen returning.
Until one day he. just appeared
With a note in his hand which read,
"The soles of my feet, I swear they're burning."
Oh, the leaves began to failin'
And the seas began to part,
And the people that confronted him were many. ■
And he was told but these few words,
Which opened up his heart,
"If ye cannot bring good news, then don't bring any."
CUT TO:
^5
54
36 INT. JACK'S DRESSING ROOM TRAILER - DAY 36
Uncle Sweetheart and Jack Fate acclimate themselves.
Uncle Sweetheart pours himself a drink while Jack Fate
tries to get a picture on a TV that doesn't work.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Troubles, I don't talk about my
troubles while they're happening.
I'll tell you about them when they're
over. Anyway, I slept like a log last
night. I got so much shit happening
man, I'm gonna turn this into
Woodstock, Altamont, the Beatles at
Shea, Live-Aid, and the Elvis comeback
special all rolled into one.
JACK FATE
We'll see. We'll see.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I know what you're thinking, man, but
I feel good about this. I feel like
someone who's lived 10,000 years, that
has seventeen senses and is standing
ankle high in the Atlantic.
JACK FATE
Yeah, well, I hope you can pull it
off.
There's a KNOCK at the door.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Wait a minute.
JACK FATE
Who's that?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
The greatest human menagerie since the
Stone Age. At our services, no
mediocrity here. Totally beyond
criticism. I got all the artists here
who are gonna round out this show and
fill up the bill.
Uncle Sweetheart opens the door and a motley crew of
freaks and weirdos wade in. We recognize some of them
from the pictures on Uncle Sweetheart's wall.
!
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
36
They include a FORTUNE TELLER,
seedy MAGICIAN, 'a .-VENTRILOQUIST
masked WRESTLER in a suit.
a female CONTORTIONIST,
and his DUMMY, and a
a
‘UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Come on in. Come on in.
They surround an uncomfortable Jack Fate and exchange
awjcward, but polite pleasantries.
• UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
...Ella the Fortune' Teller ... Brenda
the Body Bender Jean Darkness...
Eddie Quicksand and'. Milo... the great
’ El Mundo
« . . ... ■ ’ ‘t f .
■A. .group of --look a likes follows.-
‘ ■ •; UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
- . . ■■ ‘And. of course;-. ; Abraham Lincoln, Mark
• . -'Twaih,- Rudolf ; Valentino .
Behind them, ..BOBBY CUPID- enters . Uncle Sweetheart is not
nappy to see him.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Oh, Iookey, here. Look what the cat
dragged in. Bobby Cupid, who let you
in? Jack, did you know he was coming?
Where'. s your passport?
BOBBY CUPID
I don't need no stinking passport.
Jack Fate moves in .front of Uncle Sweetheart and embraces
Bobby Cupid.
BOBBY CUPID
(quietly)
The land is too big out there, man.
After awhile it starts to swallow you
up.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
(dejected)
A million years of weather and wind.
BOBBY CUPID
I got a surprise for you. Wait'll you
see this.
(CONTINUED)
56
36 CONTINUED: (2) 36
He hands Jack a guitar in a beaten up, old case.
JACK FATE
What's that?
BOBBY CUPID
That my friend is Blind Lemon's
guitar .
The crowd is impressed. Jack admires it. He takes it
out of the case and examines it with reverence.
JACK FATE
Who'd you get this from?
BOBBY CUPID
I've been saving it for you.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
It don't look very new.
BOBBY CUPID
It's so old that it is new.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
How do you know it belonged to Blind
Lemon?
BOBBY CUPID
I got it from an old boy in Dallas.
They were moving stuff out of a house
in the 5th ward, near where Lightning
used to live. Blind Lemon gave it to
him when he was leading him around.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
It looks like the only thing you can
play on that guitar is solitaire.
BOBBY CUPID
This is one of the guitars that
started it all.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
It looks like something I could go out
to the corner pawnshop and buy another
one just like it.
(CONTINUED)
36
CONTINUED: (3)‘
‘ BOBBY CUPID
Maybe you could, but it wouldn't be
like this one. This is the one that
played "Match Box Blues."
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Oh yeah, "Match Box Blues:"
Sittin ' here wondering ,
Would a matchbox hold my clothes?
/ Ain' t -got so many matches,
..But I got so far to- go.
. Just like me and you Jack, we got so
far to go. ' •
• * * ‘ BQBBY- CUPID'* .
- . ■ I' m . gonna ■ go put' some new strings on
■ ■ '* - ■ - this.'
■ **»■. •. ' •
•Jack hands the guitar care£ully back to Bobby Cuoid, who
exits.'-
* ' UNCLE 'SWEETHEART
(under his breath)’
See you later/ the later the better.
CUT TO:
• INT. SOUNDSTAGE - NINA'S TRAILER - DAY 3
Nina sits at her desk, on the phone.
NINA
. . i Come on. We have to hang in there.
Let's not quit how and give up the
ship... Yes', Lucius, I agree. It does
look pessimistic and gloomy, but
neither of us can predict what may be
.around the next corner... Lucius,
listen. You can shake down the
insurance companies if you have to,
you know you can. The government only
exists to help business. The
businesses themselves can help the
rest of the country. We have to take
a stand. Whether others like it or
not is irrelevant... I know what
you're saying, but we don't have to
sell our souls for the applause of
others . . . We do?
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
37
NINA (cont'd)
Well, I don't look at it that
way... Yes, Lucius, I'll do my best, I
understand. . .
She hangs up and exits.
CUT TO:
INT. SOUNDSTAGE - DAY '
Nina crosses the stage. As she passes the two crew
members , we angle on them as they work. Finally, they
stop, put down their tools. CREW GUV #1 wipes his brow.
They head to the craft services table to get a beverage.
As they do:
CREW GUY #1
I'm getting weary of living by this
clock. It's all smoke and mirrors. I
want to live in real time, in the
terms of day and night. I'm sick of
this merchants' time, businessman's
time, clocks and bells signaling the
hours. It's all just some gimmick, .
this physical time. I just wanna live
in psychic time. Just once, see how
it feels. One of these days I'm going
to live in time suspended.
CREW GUY #2
Maybe in your next life, but right now
we're still here.
CREW GUY #1
Did you ever notice when you dream a
dream seems to span several hours, but
it actually lasts only a few minutes.
That's what I mean by suspended time.
One of these days, I'm going to get
beyond the traditional boundaries of
time and be able to appreciate the
truly infinite nature of time and
space. I'm going to kick back. I
want to experience a timeless moment
just once... By the way, who's the
big fella, the joker they call
Sweetheart?
CREW GUY #2
Oh, him. Some big time promoter out
of Cleveland.
(CONTINUED)
59
CONTINUED:
CREW GUY #1
What did he promote?.
'CREW GUY #2
Lots of things, I. guess. He used to
do some wrestling shows. All kinds of
talent. Some comedians, bareback
riders. . .
CREW GUY #1
what 7 s he .doing here?
. ‘ CREW GUY- #2
• .* He 7 s probably 'doing something in
•* -'connection with the show^. Don't you
% -remember-'; a few -years ago, there was
■ ' some; photographer, I can't remember
: -his name . ' v They -called him the Bad
• Boy of Shiitterbugs . " Snapped a
-picture' of himself with a bullwhip
-■shoved up his ass.. Remember? Some
famous museum displayed it. Sort of
controversial at the time. Some
lingerie company or underwear company
cot a hold of it and used it to
promote their underwear. They used it
on a billboard sign.
CREW GUY #1
Used it on a billboard? A guy with a
bullwhip up his ass?
. CREW GUY #2
Yeah, it's a classic photo. They
' called it a great artistic
‘achievement. It broke new ground.
CREW GUY #1
What about it?
CREW GUY #2
Well, the league of decency came down
on the underwear company pretty heavy.
They said it was destroying morale.
It went too far for the good of
society.
CREW GUY #1
So what happened?
(CONTINUED)
60
38 CONTINUED: {2)
38
CREW GUY #2
The ruling from the local judge came
down on the side of the league of
decency. The billboard came down, and
the underwear company was given a
stiff fine. Then Sweetheart got
involved, took the case to the Supreme
Court and got the decision overturned.
That was a big day for Sweetheart.
CREW GUY #1
Seems like some days everything goes
your way.
CREW GUY #2
Yeah, but in the end, people say he
was never the same.
They pass Bobby Cupid, stringing the .?V^ar braver
and Pagan Lace approach. She is mumbling her pray .
Tom Friend "shushes" her. She is distracted by the
surroundings, like a child. Tom Friend is galvanized,
energized by the hustle and bustle. He steps up to Bobby
Cupid.
TOM FRIEND
I'm looking for Jack Fate. Is he in
there?
BOBBY CUPID
Who's looking for him?
TOM FRIEND
Name's Tom Friend. I'm with the
press. Who are you? What do you do?
BOBBY CUPID
I'm a mechanic.
TOM FRIEND
Well, I'm a journalist. And I've got
an assignment to cover this so-called
fundraiser. I'm looking for Jack
Fate.
BOBBY CUPID
You ever read "For Whom the Bell
Tolls"? Hemingway, now there's a guy
who could write.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (3) '
;tom friend
Yeah, I read.it. I need to see Jack
Fate. You gonna make my job easy or
difficult? 1
BOBBY CUPID
I don' t know anything about any
fundraiser.
TOM FRIEND
Get Word to him that I was here. Can
you do that?. And- I'll be back.
• BOBBY CUP.ID
"I don' t" know. •
■ ■' TOM. '.FR-IEND ■
Poes a hundred -d*ollar bill ‘say
. ; . anything to' you?. •
. * ' . ’ ’ ' . * BOBBY- -CUPID
■ ■■“ ‘ Not ,a -thing. ■
This is * a moment of awkward tension. Pagan Lace, who has
^ been 'P a y i ?9 attention, suddenly, abruptly chimes
m with a completely new thought.
' PAGAN LACE
Tom, let's get something to eat. You
know a good place to eat around here?
BOBBY CUPID
You might try Caesar's Palace outside
of town.
" PAGAN LACE
What do they have to eat there?
BOBBY CUPID
I don't know. They got Indian
cornbread, boiled in water and bacon
fat. That's supposed to be pretty
good.
Bobby Cupid exits. He and Tom Friend stare each other
down as Bobby Cupid walks away warily.
INT. JACK'S DRESSING ROOM TRAILER - CONTINUOUS
Uncle Sweetheart and Jack Fate speak. Uncle Sweetheart
looks over the contract.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
They want you to sing that song
"Revolution . " . You know, the Beatles
song. They might even want you to
sing it twice.
JACK FATE
Yeah, yeah, okay, "Revolution." What
else is on their playlist?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I got their list right here...
(pulls out a sheet of paper)
Where's my glasses? Let's see
here... Okay, here goes ... "Street
Fightin' Man" ... "Won' t Get Fooled
Again"... "Cellblock
#9" . . . "Ohio" . . . "Eve of
Destruction". •.. "Kick out the Jams."
You can do all those.
JACK FATE
I don't know. Uncle. Sounds like a
lot of songs.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Look son, you blew it before. This is
your big chance. I'm trying to get
your career back on track. There's
people out there giving prizes to
people like you.
JACK FATE
Prizes.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
People are impressed by people who win
things. Don't you know.
JACK FATE
You must be kidding, right?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Look son, I'm on your side.
(CONTINUED)
39 CONTINUED:
39
•JACK FATE
You wanna be 'on .my side. Uncle, you
gotta be born on my side.
Bobby Cupid re-enters with the guitar.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Ah, behold the dreamer cometh. What's
going on, dreamer?
. /
■ * • BOBBY CUPID
There'-s some, guy here snoopin' around.
' UNCLE SWEETHEART
Looking for;me? What does he look
. <. .. ' .nice?
/ • ' .. . k :■* .BOBBY" CUPID
WKat'd ( he look like? Got his hair
■ ■ ^ tied .back in‘;a ponytail . He's with
■ some -weird, half-breed chick. He looks
• " like - ' a' leech/ .if you ask me. Some
kind of two-faced monster. A spy.
•Lee would' ve. probably had him shot.
Sherman would've hung him.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
• Oh, that's a good attitude. You can
tell all that just by looking at
somebody?
BOBBY CUPID
Well, a guy does all kinds of things
to give himself away.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Maybe, we should talk to him. We could
use -some publicity. Who does he want
to talk to?
BOBBY CUPID
He wants to talk to Jack.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Maybe you should talk to him, Jack.
Exposure can't hurt.
JACK FATE
Talking to any of those guys is a
waste of time.
(CONTINUED)
39 CONTINUED: (2)
39
BOBBY CUPID
Well, his pen is sweatin' blood if you
ask me .
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Well, nobody's asking you... Look
Jack, I'm doing my best. Gimme a
break. I'm only human.
JACK FATE
I know. It ain't easy being human.
Jack Fate exits, he walks past Nina, who talks to the two
crew guys.
NINA
What’s the matter? We're behind
schedule .
CREW GUY
We got a problem here. Too much
electrical load. The voltage at the
output terminals they're undergoing a
decrease .
NINA
What about the generator?
CREW GUY
I need a current distribution center,
where the voltage doesn't fall so
badly.
NINA
Well, look, the frequencies are merely
superimposed upon one another. We
have to be able to modulate by some
kind of ring modulator. Can we do
this? Can we start on time?
CREW GUY
We're doin' our best.
Nina exits as Tom Friend spots Jack Fate. Jack Fate sees
. Tom Friend but ignores him. Tom Friend rushes up to him.
TOM FRIEND
Jack. Tom Friend. I'm with the
press .
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: ‘(3)*'.
'JACK FATE
-(on guard)
I know who you are and I know who
you're with.
TOM FRIEND
Yeah. Long time.
Jack doesn't acknowledge this.
- TOM FRIEND (cont'd)
. Do you mind if I ask you a few
questions?
\ JACK FATE. ** •
■ I don' t • knotf . ■ Depends what you want
■ ■ • * to ‘know.-/ *
*■ ' ■ TOM.. FRIEND
* What ‘do. I wanna • know? I wanna know a
1 lot of things.. ,
* 1 , . . *
' . ’’ . JACK FATE *
Like what?
TOM' FRIEND
(takes out a pencil)
I know you had a twin brother.
Whatever happened to him?
JACK FATE
(surprised)
He went on a hunting trip. Is that
all?
TOM FRIEND
Yeah, *well Jack, that doesn't explain
anything.
JACK FATE
Yeah, well, he didn't come back.
Jack moves on as Uncle Sweetheart charges in followed by
Bobby Cupid. *
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Wait a minute. We're all free people,
aren't we? Let's be free. Let's act
free. Son, you're free now. Act
free. To be free is to act rational.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
66
39 CONTINUED: (4)
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
It won't hurt you to answer a few
questions .
BOBBY CUPID
Nobody has to answer any questions.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
This will do us a lot of good. Let's
just tell keep it simple. Tell him
what he wants to know.
JACK FATE
All right. What else does he want to
know?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Can we keep it short?
TOM FRIEND
Yeah, we can keep it short. Okay,
Jack I got a few more things here.
Mothers of Invention, Jack. Zappa,
remember him? Now there's a guy who
wouldn't take no for an answer. Did a
whole movie, "Uncle Meat," sixteen
hours long, totally unedited. He let
it all hang out, didn't he? What
about you. Jack? Have you ever let it
all hang out?
JACK FATE
It's always hanging out.
Jack begins moving again; followed by this unlikely
entourage .
JACK FATE
What else you want to know?
TOM FRIEND
Oh yeah, okay. Twin brother took a
hunting trip, huh? You know that
singer in the group the Bee Gees?
JACK FATE
What about him?
TOM FRIEND
Sounds a lot like Gene Pitney, doesn't
he. Jack?
(CONTINUED)
JACK FATE
Okay.
< TOM FRIEND
Yeah, "Town. Without Pity," Jack.
Remember that? Place where they lock
you up for something you haven't even
thought about doing yet. Pretty
lonesome world, ain'.t it Jack?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Hey'. listen this is supposed to be
about a charity ‘fundraiser, here.
. . TOM 'FRIEND-*
■Yeah,* I .know. . -I‘'m. almost done.
' ‘ . . r
, * . a
\ • ’* •' UNCLE' SWEETHEART
Ail right, .let' s\ wrap it up.
• / . ;.'.toM- friend
What' about’. Hendrix, Jack? You
remember Hendrix at Woodstock? I'm
just curious,- you weren't there were
you? Why?- Where were you? You
weren't up there with Hendrix. You
should've seen Hendrix. He was all
business. Didn't mix business with
pleasure.. Playing "Star Spangled
Banner" through two lousy speakers to
half a million people in the mud.
What a cry that was. A cry forlorn.
One last gasp of the old regime. One
desperate cry for freedom, up there
with that- screaming guitar. What was
he saying, Jack? He was saying, "I
know what I look like. I know I
couldn't get a break in America. I
went to England and found some blokes
and formed my own band." What was
that "Star Spangled Banner" trip all
about. Jack? Revolution, I don't
think so. You could hear the tears in
every note he played. Saying love me,
love me, I'm not a traitor, I'm a
native son. He took the glorious
anthem and he dropped drug bombs on
it. You could hear that cry around
the world. Jack. He was saying I'm an
American citizen.
(MORE)
68
39 CONTINUED: (6) 39
TOM FRIEND (cont'd)
He was crying out to his forefathers.
The pilgrims who came to this country
didn't need no stinkin' passports,
didn' t need to talk to any government
officials. Hendrix, Jack, the last
man standing. Pride and honor.
Jack. That's what it's all about, but
nobody heard him. One sad cry of
pity. Jack. A town without pity.
What about you, what do you think
about that? Would you reach out to a
drowning man. Would you think when
you were doing it that he might pull
you in?
Everyone stops.
BOBBY CUPID
(pulls out his knife)
This guy's way out of line.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Does anybody want a drink? Why don't
we have a drink? I want a drink.
There is a long awkward pause. Jack shakes his head in
disbelief and begins to exit. As he does, he crosses
past Pagan Lace. They exchange a glance. Jack throws his
cigarette butt on the ground and exits. She picks it up
and smokes it.
BOBEY CUPID
(dismissive, to Uncle
Sweetheart)
You're a nuisance and an annoyance.
Bobby Cupid catches up with Jack. Tom Friend yanks the
cigarette out of Pagan Lace's mouth, throws it down,
grabs her and exits in the opposite direction. Alone,
Uncle Sweetheart takes a swig of his drink. He chases
after Tom.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Hey wait a minute, maybe we can still
work this outr -
Uncle Sweetheart passes the two crew guys, who've been
observing.
(CONTINUED)
69
39 CONTINUED: (7.)
CREW GUY #1
(to second crew guy)
When I was .in welding school, just for
kicks, we wguld heat a steel bar until
it was red hot, let the color cool out
and then ask the new boy, to
bring over the metai bar. All it
would cost him is the skin off his
. , hand.
They resume their work.
CUT TO:
40 INT . ' SOUNDSTTAGE - 'MORNING. *- .CONTINUOUS t
‘ Uncle . Sweetheart catches ’up with Tom Friend and Pagan
■ • La c e . ■ ; * * . ..
•’ - ■ - UNCLE’' SWEETHEART
*■■■■- We can’ work . this out.
- TOM. FRIEND
I got my story. We're not working
nothing out.
’ UNCLE SWEETHEART
That was all off the record, you know.
TOM FRIEND
Nothing's off the record.
Tom Friend walks away but Pagan Lace stops. Uncle
Sweetheart is curious. He approaches her.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Here, ‘have a drink. Become part of
- the club. Sample a mouthful...
* Become a member in full standing.
She examines the bottle. Smells it.
PAGAN LACE
I don't drink scotch.
She smiles then catches up with Tom.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
40
UNCLE SWEETHEART
(shouting after them)
Oh, I get it. You're one of them hot
corn girls. You got a lot of self
control. Freedom is only for people
who can practice self control, right?
That's what you're thinking, right? I
know what you're thinking.
He takes a swig from his flask.
CUT TO:
INT. SOUNDSTAGE - NIGHT 41
Everything is quiet. Nina sits alone listening to the
preacher's religious fervor on the radio in her trailer,
masturbating. We start on her face and pull away as the
preacher talks, through the window’ and outside the
trailer, past crew people who have no idea what she's
doing alone in there.
PREACHER (V.O.)
We're .living in the world with the god
of Cain and Abel. The concept of good
and evil, some people have trouble
with that. You have to have a clear
consciousness of what constitutes good
and evil. There's a whole lot of
people who have trouble with the
concept of evil. They like to think
it doesn't exist. We're living in the
world of Cain and Abel. There's
people who break laws and encourage
others to break laws. There's a lot
of social evils that can be eliminated
by murder, like David in the Bible,
the King Arthur of the Jews. Faith,
hope and charity. The greatest of
these is charity. Sometimes we act as
if nothing will ever get done in life
unless we do it ourselves. We fail to
see god's mighty plan. We fail to see
the good things coming our way that
take no effort on our part. Life is
full of risks and sometimes, people,
we must take the risks to live by the
spiritual path.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
71
41 CONTINUED:
41
' PREACHER (cont'd)
Life is like a salad dressing, folks,
and we must shake it up or else it
becomes stagnant before we know it...
42 INTi SOUNDSTAGE
42
Finally Jack enters the stage, we follow him. The band
awaits him. He picks up a guitar and they begin playing
"Standing In The. Doorway."
LYRICS • ; ’
• I'm* walking .through the summer nights
■ Jukebox playing low
"Yesterday everything was .going too fast
Today, it' s moving too slow
♦
I got no place left to turn .
I got nothing left to burn
Don't know if I saw you, if I would kiss you or kill you
• it probably wouldn't matter to you anyhow
You left me standing in the doorway, crying
X got nothing to go back to now
The light in this place is so bad
Making me sick in the head
• All the laughter is just making me sad
The stars have turned cherry red
I'm str umm ing on my gay guitar
Smoking a cheap cigar
The ghost of our old love has not gone away
Don't look like it will anytime soon
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
You left me standing in the doorway crying
Under the midnight moon
Maybe they' 11 get me and maybe they won' t
But not tonight 1 and it won't be here
There are things I could say but X don' t
I know the mercy of God must be near
I've been riding the midnight train
Got ice water in my veins
I would be crazy if I took you back
It would go up against every rule
You left me standing in the doorway, crying
Suffering like a fool
When the last rays of daylight go down
Buddy, you'll roll no more
I can hear the church bells ringing in the yard
I wonder who they' re ringing for
I know T can' t win
But my heart just won't give in
Last night I danced with a stranger
But she just reminded me you were the one
You left me standing in the doorway crying
In the dark land of the sun
I'll eat when I'm hungry, drink when I'm dry
And live my life on the square
And even if the flesh falls off my face
* *
73
42 CONTINUED: (2) / .. 42
I know ■ someone will be. there to care
It always means so much
Even the softest touch
I see nothing to be gained by any explanation
There are no words that need to be said
You left me standing in the doorway crying
Blues wrapped around iniy head '
43 INT..' S OUNDST AGE ~ CONTINUOUS 43
Jack -Fate, puts ’the .guitar* down and exits past the
ventriloquist. -The Dummy .speaks to the Ventriloquist.
■ DUMMY'
I .-like that song. It shows you can
/ triumph over the malice .of others, the
forces of envy. It's not just some
tragic' reenactment of the past. Songs
aren't meant. to be original or say
something that's never been said. He
puts forth the common sense of the
subject. I like what it says about
life. Life is not something you can
rewind or fast forward. We can't
control the timing of the universe.
■ We better get used to it.
. VENTRILOQUIST
That's easy for you to say.
CUT TO:
44 INT. PRESIDENTIAL MANSION - NIGHT ‘ 44
Inside the bedroom, the President lies close to death.
At his bedside are pictures of his family from long ago,
particularly affectionate pictures from long ago of him
and the young Jack Fate. But none of those people are
present in the room. Instead, the 'impersonal'
assistants from the previous scene and a caretaker sit
with him. He shrieks in pain and fear and delusion. He
is calmed down and medicated as we
CUT TO:
74
45 INT. HOTEL ROOM
45
Pagan Lace lights candles at her newly erected altar and
perforins her obsessive, compulsive ritual. Outside, we
see mobs are gathering and losing control in £ ron ^ ? r ®
building protected by the 'police 1 . We watch Tom Friend
struggle through the crowd, into the hotel. Then Tom
Friend enters the room. Dishevelled from his experience
downstairs Pagan Lace doesn't notice he has come in until
she has completed her ritual.
PAGAN LACE ■
Where have you been?
TOM FRIEND
They bumped off another taxi driver.
He crosses to the window.
PAGAN LACE
What' s going on out there?
TOM FRIEND (cont'd)
Down there in that stinking courtyard,
that jail. They're trying to bust out
a political prisoner. Either that or
they're trying to bust in and take the
damn child molester out and hang him
from the lamp post. Hell, I don't
know .
PAGAN LACE
You're rattled, Tom. What's bugging
you?
TOM FRIEND
What's bugging me? The absurdity of a
lifetime of futile labor. That's
what's bugging me. Condemned to some
pointless task. I'm trying to track
down some guy and ask him the meaning
of life... Look at that crowd down
there. Life itself is the meaning of
lif e .
She joins him at the window.
PAGAN LACE
Your problem is you're looking at the
bug on your windshield, Tom.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED':
’* "PAGAN LACE (cont'd)
If you keep .looking at it you're gonna
miss the scenery and have an accident.
You gotta look through the windshield
not at--.it.
Tom is shocked, he* looks at her.
TOM FRIEND
- (incredulous)
What's that?... Why don't you go off
somewhere? Why -don't you find a nice
beach' bum, gigolo,, or stud.
She laughs', refusing to’ take him seriously.
s . ■ PAGAN LACE’*
■ ‘-. v. Tom-'-
> ' • ' . *
.' . . . -TOM FRIEND
- ■ (half to. himself)
' * . .It ' sa dictatorship and it's
getting . worse by the day .. .Newspapers
’ * ar ® sll a false, map of the world. You
■ ' ever heard of the AIDS epidemic?
PAGAN LACE
Yeah.
TOM -FRIEND
What if I told you it was cooked up by
some. Mau-Mau men in Africa and they
gave it to British sailors. How about
the Vietnam War, you ever heard of
that one? What if I told you it was
lost in the whorehouses of Saigon
instead of on the battlefield.
PAGAN LACE
How ‘do you know that stuff?
TOM FRIEND
You never reveal your sources.
PAGAN LACE
Be careful, Tom. The light in your
brain will go off.
(CONTINUED)
76
45 CONTINUED: (2)
45
TOM FRIEND (cont'd)
I never thought I had a brain until
now.
CUT TO:
46 INT. SOUNDSTAGE - NIGHT 46
Uncle Sweetheart is standing by himself, singing. He's
holding a sheaf of papers. He's drinking from his flask.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
(singing )
Who's that a-coming, John the
Revelator.
Percy and Blunt appear.
PERCY
Hey, Sweetheart.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Ah, the two scavengers. Somebody must
have left some scraps of food lying
around .
Long pause as Percy and Blunt size up their options.
Uncle Sweetheart is unafraid. Finally:
PERCY
Your bones break easy, you know.
They exit.
CUT TO:
47 INT. HOTEL ROOM - CONTINUOUS 47
Tom Friend is high. Pagan Lace tries to clean him up,
picking stuff off his jacket, wiping his sweaty face,
etc .
TOM FRIEND
Stop asking me stuff.
PAGAN LACE
But I need to know so I can understand
things .
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: *' ‘ " * 47
% • * •
TOM FRIEND
What -do you need to understand?
She .tries to clean. some blood off his hands. She scrubs
furiously.
PAGAN LACE
Everybody's got something in their
past, Tom. Why don't you tell me
what'*s hiding back there.
He takes a. deep -breath. . She puts down the now bloody
cloth. . • • -
' ‘•’.PAGAN LACE‘‘ (cont'd)
. ■ ; - • ’. V .. (softly)' . ..
■- '* * Teil me.-; *
• . • \ ■
He" takes --.another ;- deep ’breath..' A swig of whisky.
‘ ‘ ■ • ; ' PAGAN*. LACE (cont'd)
» Go ' ahead/ ' \
. * * *
TOM FRIEND
(another deep breath)
I grew up on a farm. I slept with the
cows. My old man broke his leg,
became addicted to drugs, then he
became a -missionary. We had nothing
against rats, but we used to have to
shoot them because they'd eat the
potatoes and flour. If rats were like
frogs and ate water and mud, we would
have left them alone. Then we lived
in a mobile - home park. We lived in a
Prowler next to the Holiday Rambler
and the Nomad. I had a baby horse.
• it meant everything to me. I wouldn't
have traded it for a racehorse. The
saddle was so small you could've put
it on a cat. My old man, he went down
the tunnel of love, the dark ride. It
was the only way he could go. At
carnival time, everybody had to put on
a mask, and you had to eat and drink
through your mask. Somebody brought
me what I thought was’ eggs and home
fries, and I gobbled it down. Then
somebody told me later I'd eaten the
flesh of my old man.
(CONTINUED)
78
47 CONTINUED: (2)
47
PAGAN LACE
Fuck.
She returns to the altar and begins praying. Ton Friend
weeps silently. We move to a radio on the night table.
RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
The President hasn't been seen in
weeks. Some fear the worst.
Spokesman for the ailing leader said
quote, he is wearing the harness of
necessity, unquote...
CUT TO:
48 EXT. SOUNDSTAGE - MORNING 48
The armed man is standing guard at the gate. A passerby
stops -- an old, Picasso-like man.
OLD MAN
What's going on in there?
ARMED MAN
I'm not at liberty to say.
OLD MAN
How do you get into this club?
ARMED MAN
You go by night, to a certain
fountain, find the girl who'll be
there and rape her. Then you become
one of the big boys. You're an easy
mark. Then you're in the club.
You're the front man. You've taken
the path of least resistance. They
put you at the head of the gang. Now
you're in the inner ring of the inner
ring. That's how it works.
The old man considers this, then walks away.
CUT TO:
49 INT. NINA'S TRAILER - CONTINUOUS. 49
Jack Fate sits strumming on Blind Lemon' s guitar with
Uncle Sweetheart, who fans himself.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: !■’:
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Ooh, ..it's hot- in here. The air
conditioner must be on the blink.
Nina enters .waving ‘a piece of paper.
NINA
These are the lyrics to "Jailhouse
Rock. This is a song that the
executives are insisting be played.
\ .UNCLE SWEETHEART
VJailhouse Rq.ck?" Why do they want to
hear. ..that?
• ' * * * . .. . JNINA ■ J
Just look, a t th e^ lyrics, Sweetheart.
. \ Like, "the -warden threw a party in a
; .county* jail." They- see it as a song
•\ of hope. Some ..kind of egalitarian
.... • thing'. # They want to plant seeds of
'■ hope .' ■
. * * ■ *
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Lots of people have tried to plant
seeds of hope-.
NINA
Yeah, but seeds don' t grow if you
plant -them on a carpet or a hardwood
floor. You got to put them in' the
earth, where they come in contact with
the soil.
•UNCLE SWEETHEART
What do you think. Jack? . "Jailhouse
Rock?':
Jake Fate rises and addresses Uncle Sweetheart.
JACK FATE
Yeah, well, uh, do you know what
cellulose is, Uncle?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Cellulose?
(CONTINUED)
80
49 CONTINUED: (2)
49
JACK FATE (cont'd)
Yeah, cellulose. It's in the grass.
A cow can digest it, but you can't... I
can't either.
Jack exits.
NINA
(exasperated)
What's this all about? You know that
reporter who was here yesterday? Why
didn't anybody talk to him?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I thought somebody did talk to him.
NINA
No, there wasn't any story anywhere
and we need the publicity. The
network is demanding it.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
You're winding yourself up too tight.
NINA
Don't play dumb with me. You're
smarter than that. Sweetheart. You're
hiding your light under a bushel.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Well, maybe I am, but it's no big
deal .
NINA
You have no passion for this. You
have no feeling.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Passions and feelings are a curse that
the gods strike you with. It's very
hard to make them compatible with
living.
NINA
Gods, what do you know about gods?
These network heads are the gods.
They work their will with no blood in
their bodies. They don't know the
future, nor do they answer questions.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
81
49 CONTINUED: (3)-*.,
' > -NINA (cont'd)
They. play on our dream states like a-
concertina.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I've seen 'em.
NINA
Yeah?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
They'-re not gods, they're nothing but
preachers and lawyers and hired agents
and -professional speakers. They all
have vested interests and we can
■ *; discount whatever' they say.
■ Both Nina 'and Uncle Sweetheart are angry.
"* , (l * . ■ t #■
• v *' .* . . ■* NINA
- ... Maybe you can. Sweetheart, but not me.
I have to work. with them. I have to
... * ■ . " ; eat ^ ■
She exits. Uncle Sweetheart follows.
50 EXT. STREET -CONTINUOUS
We follow him out .onto the street where ahead of him Jack
Fate walks along. Bobby Cupid follows. Uncle Sweetheart
comes running after them. In the background we see Nina
.Veronica look .on alarmed, then run back inside.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Hey! Wait a second, Jack!
They turn around.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
I screwed up. I screwed up big time.
BOBBY CUPID
That's one thing about you.
Sweetheart. You don't do nothing
small time.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Shut up, I'm not talking to you.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
A couple of guys are chasing me down.
I made 'em some promises.
(CONTINUED)
82
50 CONTINUED:
50
JACK FATE
Promises are hard to fulfill.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I had to borrow money. Jack. I did a
stupid thing. I borrowed money to buy
something that's been decreasing in
value ever since I owned it. Ain't
that a bitch.
JACK FATE
Yeah, well, you live and learn, don't
you.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Don't you understand? I'm trying to
get free of my mistakes... I've got a
family. Jack. I'm not going to become
a burden to my children. Don't leave,
Jack. You know I'm not some vicious
person in a position of wealth and
power .
JACK FATE
No. You're like a chemist who invents
a new drug and doesn't care about the
side effects.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I'm in over my head.
BOBBY CUPID
You're nothing but a piker, a door to
door encyclopedia salesman. You'd
commit treason against your own self.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Who's talking to you?
BOBBY CUPID
Common sense, that's who. William
Faulkner, that's who. "Absalom,
Absalom". Every word of "The Fall of
the House of Usher", is rolling around
my head. The voices inside my head.
That's who. Screw this so-called
concert. Jack. These cats are just
addicted to lights and sound. Let's
go someplace where we can see the
earth and sky.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
50
50 CONTINUED:* (2):
* .BOBBY CUPID (cont'd)
Let's go to the South Seas. Let's go
to where Gauguin went and disappear
for awhile. Someplace where we can
relax and not be nervous around these
people, these wretches .of humanity.
This guy her.e, he's like a praying
mantis. He doesn't kill his victims.
He just paralyzes them, feeds off
them. He don't kill nothing. He's
too smart for that..
Uncle Sweetheart 'grabs him by the collar, pulling him
close.
’UNCLE SWEETHEART
. '(softly) *
1 -don't know. which -one of those voices
is coming .'out -of .‘^your mouth, but tell
. • • it to 'shut, the fuck up.
■ . ■ ■ .- - > . •
.He .releases- -him.
’.'•UNCLE/ SWEETHEART (cont'd)
.•Gauguin was a stockbroker-.
He stands there, as they walk away.
JACK FATE
(to Bobby Cupid)
I got to borrow your car for awhile.
BOBBY CUPID
Yeah, it's over here.
They reach a beat up old jalopy.
BOBBY CUPID (cont'd)
You gonna need any help?
JACK FATE
Just let me have the keys.
■ .Bobby Cupid has a big ring of keys. He hands Jack Fate
the key. Jack gets in and starts it up. He drives away,
leaving Bobby Cupid and Uncle Sweetheart alone on the
• dusty road. They exchange an awkward glance then turn and
head back together.
CUT TO:
51
EXT. .ROAD - NIGHT
The car's been wrecked. It # s in a ditch. The ho°d is
up, it's smoking. We pan past the car and find Jack Fate
as he crosses a cemetery. Finally, he stops in front o£
a modest marker. It reads: MARY, BELOVED MOTHER OF JACK
1942- AND EDWARD 1945-1946. Beside this grave a new
unmarked hole is dug.
CUT TO:
FLASHBACK #5 - APPROXIMATELY 1968
This is a camera planted, hidden, probably in the closet
of a hotel room. The son, now 27, is waiting in t e
hotel room. A bottle of whisky sits prominently m the
otherwise antiseptic environment. The son walks up to
the camera and acknowledges it. He is a party to the
deception. He is culpable. The father's beautiful
mistress enters. She knows nothing of the camera. sne
is plied with drink, and quickly she and the son become
amorous
52
JACK FATE (V.O.)
The last thing I would've ever wanted
to do would be to disrupt the
authority of my father. I wouldn't
have done that for anything. I guess
you could say I was under the spell of
my mother. And my mother, she had a
few, little' problems . Little problems
can get blown out of proportion in a
big way. Sometimes people have more
than they need, and more than they
deserve. Because you can only do a
little bit, you do nothing. And I
didn't want to be. like that. Some of
us pursue perfection and virtue, and
if we're lucky we catch up to it, but
happiness can't be pursued. It either
comes to you or it don't. You can
always say, if only this, or if only
that, but "if only" is a state of mind
that we get into when we feel
deprived. In the end, it's the
strongest arm that stretches the bow.
CUT TO:
53
53 EXT. HOUSE-- NIGHT *
We recognize it -as the house from the earlier flashback.
CUT TO:
54 INT. HOUSE - NIGHT c
A warm glow from a fire lights the house. Old "Jack
Fate"- music wafts through the room. There is a knock at
•the door. The beautiful mistress' from the flashback, now
slightly older enters and. crosses to answer it and is
not ..surprised to find.:Jack Fate at her threshold.
t : . . t ‘ . / . DISSOLVE TO:
55 - INT..' HOUSE .-' LATER ' .-V - V * c
* . . • , • \ ‘ «
-Jack Fate and the MISTRESS .sit together. She treats his
■ cut
' 7 ' : *' ■'* MISTRESS
I ■ Wondered if you would ever return.
I wondered if I'd ever see you again.
You' were pretty beaten and banged up
that night.
JACK FATE
That was. a bad night.
MISTRESS
You never resolved it with him, did
you?
' JACK FATE
Too many loose ends.
MISTRESS
You're gonna try to straighten it out
with him? You think you can?
JACK FATE
It can't be straightened out. It'll
, . never be. Not by me, anyway.
MISTRESS
Then what are you coming back for y
Jack? He's on his death bed.
(CONTINUED)
55 CONTINUED:
55
. JACK FATE
I gotta see him. I'm tired of not
seeing him.
MISTRESS
You gave it all away, didn't you? You
gave all the best of you away.
JACK FATE
Yeah, I did. I gave it to them all.
All them sons of bitches who are
either unwilling or unable to accept
it .
MISTRESS
Yeah we all did... I heard you tried
to kill yourself. I heard you took
the car that night, drained the brake
fluid out of it, took some Valium and
went for a ride.
JACK FATE
I'm still here, ain't I?
A pause.
MISTRESS (cont'd)
...Your father was a good man.
JACK FATE
Sure he was. He caused senseless
death, endless tears, needless loss,
but sure, if you wanna say he was a
good man, he was a good man.
MISTRESS
Your mama. Jack. You wouldn't have
had nothing to do with me if it wasn' t
for her... If you wanna go see him,
you better go now. I hope it's not
too late.
JACK FATE
It's late, and it's always been late.
MISTRESS
Don't forget. A home is a refuge,
Jack. A relaxing place for the heart
and mind. You can come here anytime.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
87
55 CONTINUED: <2) r ' * - i
’■ 'MISTRESS (cont'd)
What can I - do for you? I wanna do
. something for- you. What can I do?
JACK FATE
Go get the keys to the boathouse. Row
me out onto 'the lake, I wanna see the
sun rise.
DISSOLVE TO:
56 EXT. ' PRESIDENTIAL MANSION-DAWN. c
Jack Fate walks up to the heavily armed guard gate. He
is. stopped by 'numerous., -soldiers who train their weapons
on him. .One guard . steps . forward and shine's a light on
his face.- Jack's- cut is completely healed. They seem to
r.ecognize him.
* ‘ ‘ , > 1 / • - . ’ » * *
.. • CUT TO:
♦ " ■ * • m ■ ‘
57 ■ . TNT. 'PRESIDENTIAL MANSION HALLWAY - DAY 5
Jack Fate walks down -the ' hallway accompanied by EDMUND.
* EDMUND
Long time. Jack.
- JACK FATE
Yeah, it's been awhile. So much
happens, don't it, in such a short
time?
EDMUND
Seems like only yesterday.
'JACK FATE
Maybe to you.
• EDMUND
We used to play together out there, in
the back. While my mother cleaned
this house, my father took care of the
grounds. We were illegal back then.
We're not illegal anymore. We're in
charge now. Jack.
JACK FATE
Yeah, I remember your ma. She was a
wonderful lady. Asked permission
before she did anything.
(CONTINUED)
88
57 CONTINUED:
57
EDMUND
Yeah, before she'd pluck a leaf off a
tree, she'd ask permission.
JACK FATE
Couldn't wash away the real dirt,
though.
EDMUND
Nah, nobody could.
They walk along.
EDMUND (cont'd)
I'm the man your father wanted you to
be. I'm the next President of this
country .
JACK FATE
Yeah, that' s ■ something, isn't it.
EDMUND
You know how it is. Jack. When
inferior people want to revolt, they
do. And when they become equal, they
want to be superior. You're looking
at the top man now. Jack. It's no dog
and pony show. We're not just some
macho men from the flea market.
JACK FATE
You got any new kind of manifesto?
EDMUND
Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. I
have my speech already prepared.
He walks through the onlookers that sit vigil, camped out
around the stage where the Presidents death bed is
perched behind the curtain. They barely react to
Edmund's speech..
EDMUND (cont'd)
Ladies and gentleman. People of the
republic. We are now a nation of
laws. The laws of common sense, which
from now forthcoming will overrule all
other laws.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2)
■ EDMUND (cont'd)
As far as rights go, all .people aren't
. entitled 'to' the same rights. Freedom
is only for people who can practice
self control. Let me say we no longer
have any cause to fear danger from
abroad. Our 'strength and power is
well known throughout the civilized
world. It is from within amongst
ourselves, from cupidity, corruption,
/ disappointed ambition,, and inordinate
‘ . thirst '.for power that factions will be
-formed and liberty, .endangered. It is
■against -such designs that we
,• especially have 1 to. guard ourselves.
- ; Whatever disguises' the actors may
, ' assume, we have - the highest of human
. . * * - ■ trust committed r to. our. care. We are
*■ . . ''not Nazis;.' We do -not •believ'e in
racial superiority, . because here there
is no . racial unity -.because here we
' Vhave' all races ' and ' creeds . There will
• , be .no ..more, violence in the organized
media. Real- .‘actual violence will take
'the'place of manufactured violence .
We have the good of .society at heart.
We will bring back public displays of
games * We are going to empty the
prisons. -We will fill the football
stadiums. We will have evil-doers
from the prisons trampled by wild
elephants, mauled by uncaged bears,
pecked to death by screaming eagles.
And finally, there will be great
satisfaction for the people, who have
struggled so bravely and fought so
fiercely for their much cherished
independence. . .
He breathes heavily. We hear thunder and see flashes of
lightening. A storm erupts. Jack moves past him and
enters his father's quarters. Jack sits by the bed of
his dying ^ father, the President. They are silent.
Although it is silent, it is a silence of lament, of
melancholy, an elegiac silence. A silence beyond any
words. Silence is the only appropriate response. There
are too many words unspoken to start now. Too many
promises broken. Finally, Jack takes the President's
hand and he closes his eyes.
90
58 FLASHBACK #6 - APPROXIMATELY 1968 58
Inside the hotel room. The son and the mistress,
together. Before long, the door is kicked in and looming
in the doorway is the father and his goons . The son is
caught inflagrante delicto. The father grabs the son, as
the goons look on and cover him. The father drags the
son out of the room. The camera cones cautiously out of
the closet, in time to witness the son being thrown
unceremoniously down the stairs by the father, as the
goons and the horrified woman look on. The goons
suddenly become aware of the camera's presence and
quickly catch the cameraman and beat him, and as the
camera falls, that is the end of the transmission. Until
now. . .
JACK FATE (V.O.)
...If I know nothing else, I know at
least one thing is true: that the
sacred is in the ordinary, the common
things in life. They tell you that
everything is nonsense, that the laws
of nature are nonsense, gravity is
nonsense, relationships don’t exist,
jobs don’t exist. Everything is up
for grabs and there’s no cause of
anything. That's what they'd like you
to believe. I guess you could say I
was pushed downhill, but my fall from
grace didn't end at the bottom of
those stairs. It went on, and it
seemed to' go on forever. All of life
is a balancing act, and we make
choices between extremes. Conformity
or freedom. Acceptance or doubt.
Humility or raging ego. We have to
make choices. People mistake fact for
opinion. The easiest enemy to
overcome is an opinionated one.
Expect the worst, and you'll get it.
That's about all he ever taught me.
In jail, there are a lot of guilty
guys who are innocent. Outside,
there are a lot of innocent guys that
are guilty. . . All of us in some way
are trying to kill time. When it's
all said and done, time ends up
killing us.
CUT TO:
91
59 INT. PRESIDENT'S BEDROOM 59
Jack kisses his father on the head. His father opens his
eyes ’for a moment, a brief moment, perhaps of
recognition, acknowledgement - then closes them again.
Jack exits. *
CUT TO:
* /
60. INT.. SOUNDSTAGE*- DAY 60
Nina .crosses t-o her trailer ' as Uncle Sweetheart chases
after her . ■ ... . ■
. ' • .* ’ *-■ / NINA
I 7 m'-puliirig the plug.- I can't wait*
. • ; * anymore. •• It's oVer.
.*'./. ' UNCLE 'SWEETHEART
. . VJait- a little^ longer. What harm will
• * ' ”'it'dd : to* .wait? /.’He' 11 show up, I said
, • he' d show up.
Bobby Cupid joins’ this parade.
BOBBY CUPID
■ Let her pull the plug. What the
hell's the difference, anyway.
Tom Friend walks up to the group.
TOM FRIEND
What's going on here? .Are you
cancelling the concert? Do I get the
exclusive? You made promises,
S'weetheart. Big promises.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
I did? Well, I don't remember. . I got
amnesia. Get the fuck out of my face,
ink slinger.
They lunge at each other. Bobby Cupid and a couple of
crew guys try to break it up. Suddenly, surprisingly.
Jack Fate enters like nothing happened. He's been up all
night. He's wet from the rain. They see him and let go
of each other. There is an awkward silence ; Then:
(CONTINUED)
92
60 CONTINUED:
60
BOBBY CUPID
(to Jack Fate)
Hey, I got one for you.
You know the difference between a
stupid person and a pizza? One is
easy to cheat and the other is cheesy
to eat.
There is silence again, then: Jack and Bobby Cupid
laugh. They walk off together.
CUT TO:
61 INT. SOUNDSTAGE - DAY 61
MONTAGE: Hard working crew, putting the pieces together.
We see people building, sawing, hammering, pulling
cables, lifting, we see Nina Veronica, Uncle Sweetheart,
and Bobby Cupid.
CUT TO:
62 INT. SOUNDSTAGE - DAY 62
Jack Fate and the band rehearsing "Drifters Escape", and
this is the soundtrack of the montage.
LYRICS
"Oh, help me in my weakness,"
I heard the drifter say,
As they carried him from the courtroom
And were taking him away.
"My trip hasn't been a pleasant one
And my time it isn't long,
And I still do not know
What it was that I've done wrong."
Well, the judge, he cast his robe aside,
A tear came to his eye,
"You fail to understand," he said,
(CONTINUED)
93
62 CONTINUED:
62
"Why must you even try?"
Outside, the crowd was stirring.
You could hear it from the door.
Inside, the judge was stepping down,
While the jury, cried for more'.-
"Oh,, stop that cursed .jury,'-"
Cried the attendant and the nurse,
. "The .trial' was bad enough > .
But this is. ten times ‘ worfee. " *
• . . \ w
*• / • ■ •• ’■ ■ . '• ' ' CUT TO:
63 * INT . -SOUNDSTAGE . *• ' 63
Pagan Lace, off. by herself, talks to no one in
particular. •’
PAGAN LACE
I love his songs 'cause they're not
precise. They're emotionally
ambiguous. Nobody else will do that.
They invite different interpretations .
She exits,* as Uncle Sweetheart approaches Jack with a
MOTHER and her SEVEN YEAR OLD CHILD. The child seems
sweet, but is holding a toy gun. The mother wears a cast
on her arm.
MOTHER
(to Jack Fate)
It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fate.
JACK FATE
(to Uncle Sweetheart)
Who's this?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
This is Mrs. Brown, and she's got a
lovely daughter.
(CONTINUED)
94
63 CONTINUED:
63
MRS. BROWN
My daughter has memorized all of your
songs .
JACK FATE
Is that so? Why' d she do that?
MRS. BROWN
'Cause I made her, that's why.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
What do you think of that. Jack? Used
to be she'd be sweating away in some
factory, underage. Now we got child
labor laws. All these kids, we took
'em out of the factories, put 'em in
the streets. How 'bout that? Anyway,
she wants to sing for you. She wants
to sing her little heart out. Let her
sing. Go ahead, darling.
The mother nods to the child, and the child begins to
sing, "The Times, They are A Changin'."
LYRICS
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin' .
Come writers and critics
(CONTINUED)
95
63 CONTINUED: (2) / .. 63
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide -
The chance won' t come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel.', s still in spin
And there' s /no tellin' who ■ ‘
That it's namin'./
For the loser' now ■' * . .
.Wili‘ be later ‘to win ' ■ * • '
. For the / times, they are a-changin' .
Come senators/ congressmen
* ‘ * " * ■ ■
Please heed the call .
Don't stand in the doorway
Don' t block up the hall
■For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a' battle outside
And it is ragin' .
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can' t understand
(CONTINUED)
96
l 63 CONTINUED: (3)
63
C
£
ft
t-
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can' t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin' .
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin' .
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin' .
JACK FATE
Gotta get this girl into school.
Jack Fate takes a quarter out of his pocket, and proceeds
to make the quarter disappear and then reappear behind
the child's ear. Mrs. Brown and her daughter exit in one
direction, Jack Fate and Uncle Sweetheart in the other.
Mrs. Brown and her daughter cross Tom Friend and Pagan
Lace as they pass the FORTUNE TELLER. Tom Friend stops.
TOM FRIEND
You're one of them fortune tellers,
eh? One of them gypsies.
(CONTINUED)
97
63 CONTINUED: (4)* / 63
' . . ■ FORTUNE TELLER
I can tell you anything. What would
you like • to- know?
TOM FRIEND
Gypsies. Isn't that, short for
Egyptian? You people built the
pyramids. What happened to you? I've
■ ' been to Egypt. Those people now look
.. like they couldn' t build -any pyramids.
. Must-be a .different kind of Egyptian.
; " FORTUNE TELLER
, You're so’ knowing. Why don't you show
• me your, hand?
, .*> * " . . . ■ . . *
Pagan.seems .frightened.
* • * ■' .. V . . ■
• * ■ "• •• .PAGAN. LACE
... • . Tom, we should keep moving.
' * * • p. f
TOM FRIEND ■
(ignoring her)
Here's my hand. Take a peek.
She starts reading his palm. Pagan Lace closes her eyes
and begins praying. She takes out some prayer beads.
. * ’ FORTUNE TELLER
I see here you have a genius for
dealing with people ... You' re a man of
many talents, but they're not being
used. ...
TOM FRIEND
Tell me more .
FORTUNE TELLER
...Your laziness stands in front of
you and the life you've dreamed of.
You're living in a nation that's dying
a slow death. Look at the faces on
your money. Slave owners and Indian
fighters. They'll soon be replaced by
the faces of strangers. Look at your
sacred monuments and your tombs of
heroes. They're being desecrated and
upturned. Everything your nation has
stood for.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
98
63 CONTINUED: (5)
FORTUNE TELLER (cont'd)
Every commitment, every truth, every
ideal, everything of beauty, all these
things are being stripped away. You-
are living in a world where all the
jewels, diamonds, pearls, and rubies
have been replaced by queer replicas.
I see a lot of anger here, and you
scoff at things you don't understand.
Tom scoffs, looks at Pagan. She is immersed in prayer.
FORTUNE TELLER
And you, young lady. Lemme see that
hand .
At first, Pagan doesn't respond. Then, she snaps out of
her reverie.
PAGAN LACE
Yeah, me? What about me?
The fortune teller takes Pagan's hand. Pagan gasps. Her
beads break and go flying everywhere.
FORTUNE TELLER
You have feelings you don't
understand, that's because in one of
your past lives, you were the daughter
of a pope. You were hidden from the
world. That's why in this life you
feel like you've been trampled over.
And it's true. You are being trampled
over. Don't you feel like you're
being trampled over?
(pointing to a line on her
palm)
See this here? Someone you trust
could get you in trouble this week...
The fortune teller lets go of Pagan Lace, who tries to
retrieve the scattered beads. The fortune teller then
turns to Tom Friend.
FORTUNE TELLER (cont'd)
You son, you're about to enter a new
and serious realm. . . The world of the
unknown.
TOM FRIEND
Go on.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: ! < 6) .
. FORTUNE TELLER
•Your place of existence is temporal.
I see ..that you write things down.
This is a .good sign. .
TOM FRIEND
(sotto)
I'm the voice of the people. Ha-ha.
• FORTUNE TELLER
There -are a few things -you should be
concerned about. ‘Things could take an
/upward turn,... but .you will first have
■ to give up your high-tech lifestyle.
; TOM.’ FRIEND ‘
*’ (hands her money) 4
•. -,Yeah/ my .high-tech lifestyle. Okay,
•• '* . : -here.* ;i've heard'.enough. Is there
anymore? ‘
• *7 ' * -■ ‘ ’FORTUNE TELLER
I- see by this line here -that you're
still' .looking for something that
you've already found. A temptation
tugs at your- roots, but it's a trap.
See this line here? Someone is
- praying that .you' 11 escape this ■
trap. . .
She looks into Tom's eyes and speaks with greater
emphasis.
FORTUNE TELLER (cont'd)
Victory comes from avoiding it ■
■ altogether or running swiftly from it.
Tom is struck by this ominous line.
PAGAN
(as she finishes gathering
her beads)
Tom, that's enough. Let's go.
FORTUNE TELLER
Beware of the majority. You must be
skeptical of the majority, the brave
and the good were never in the
majority. I see by this line that you
are a strong-willed individual.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
100
63 CONTINUED: (7) '
FORTUNE TELLER (cont'd) J
Literature is your voice. And.
literature my friend is the voice that
outlives the body. Yes, you are the
voice of the people. You have an
inquisitive mind, a mind that demands
justice. I see*by this line here that
you're at a crossroads. You're a
writer who writes the same sentence
over and over again.
He pulls his hand away.
TOM FRIEND
Let's get the hell out of here.
Tom storms away. Before Pagan can exit, the fortune
teller grabs her hand. The fortune teller's mouth doesn t
move, but Pagan hears the following.
FORTUNE TELLER (V.O.)
I see a dark haired individual who
looms large in your future... Beware
of Val Xavier and his snakeskin
jacket .
Pagan pulls her hand away and exits . Someone else comes
along and sits down with the fortune teller. We hear the
storm outside.
CUT TO:
64 INT. SOUNDSTAGE - CONTINUOUS (
We angle on Nina in her cubicle. She sits at her desk,
feet up. She's on the phone, listening to the radio at
the same time.
NINA
Thank you. I'll pass that advice along
to him.
She slams down the phone. In a distressed state, she
listens to the following.
RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
Geologists in Trenton are digging the
world’s deepest hole and have reached
a depth of thirty miles. Something
went amiss when the drill bit began to
rotate wildly out of control.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
64 CONTINUED:’’
' * RADIO ANNOUNCER (cont'd)
Geologists • measured the temperature
down there as .up to 3,000 degrees.
They have lowered microphones into the
pit and heard the sounds of millions
of suffering souls. Dr. Samosa, at
the project management center, has
determined that the center of the
earth is hollow. "Hopefully," he
says, "whatever is down there will
stay down there." Work has ground to
a halt-. And many of the scientists
..have , feared for their lives. In the
.west,- rain is 'expected, and heavy
snowfall is -moving in from the
' _ ‘ .plains. . . • \
Nina ‘.picks ‘up the phone and dials, but gets only a busy
- -signal. -.-We' hear, the storm..'/ . ,
• ■/' ■ * * ■ ■ X . ■*. / ■ CUT TO:
65 INT .’..SOUNDSTAGE ’ - CONTINUOUS 65
We follow Jack Fate and Bobby Cupid past the holy
janitor, who is sweeping. He spots Jack Fate and
approaches them. The janitor hands Jack a flyer that
reads: Do you believe in aliens? Crop circles? Graffiti
in the wheat fields? Are you concerned with lasers and
. fiber optics in the UFO tapestry? If you are ready to
break with the traditional political process, and are
concerned with. the future of freedom and liberty come to
this address.
66 INT. SOUNDSTAGE - CONTINUOUS 66
Jack pockets the flyer and steps on stage, joining the
waiting musicians. He launches into "Tryin' To Get To
Heaven" on his guitar.
Lyrics
The air -is getting hotter
There's a rumbling in the skies
I've been wading through the high muddy water
With the heat rising in my eyes
Every day your memory grows dimmer
101
64
(CONTINUED)
102
66 CONTINUED: 66
It doesn' t haunt me like it did before
I've been walking through the middle of nowhere
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door
When I was in Missouri
They would not let me be
I had to leave there in a hurry
I only saw what they let me see
You broke a heart that loved you
Now you can seal up the book and not write anymore
I've been walking that lonesome valley
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door
People on the platforms
Waiting for the trains
I can hear their hearts a-beatin'
Like pendulums swinging on chains
When you think that you lost everything
You find out you can always lose a little more
I'm just going down the road feeling bad
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door
I'm going down the river
Down to New Orleans
They tell me everything is gonna be all right
But I don't know what "all right" means
I was riding in a buggy with Miss Mary-Jane
Miss Mary-Jane got a house in Baltimore
(CONTINUED)
66 CONTINUED: (2)' >
66
I been all around the world, boys
Now I'm trying to get to heaven before they close the
door
Gonna sleep down in the parlor
And relive my dreams
* /
I'll close my .eyes and I wonder
If everything -is -as hollow as it seems
Some trains . don' t. pull- no gamblers
• No midnight ramblers, like they did before
'< ■ 4 , * 4 a m ‘ »
• X -been to. Sugar Town, I shook the sugar down
Now ..I'm "trying /to .‘get to 'heaven before they close the
‘ # ' - * i, 4 .
door
CUT TO:
67 INT. DRESSING ROOM - DAY 67
Bobby Cupid sits with Uncle Sweetheart. Bobby Cupid
■tries to play .the chords on the guitar, while Uncle
Sweetheart continues reviewing the voluminous sheaf of
papers from his bursting briefcase.
BOBBY CUPID
Man, I didn- t think he played that
song anymore. Those chords are so
unorthodox. That E diminished to F
Sharp Minor. The way it descends. It
doesn't even make musical sense, but
by the way he positions that harmony
line and changes the beat within the
structure, it's like a concerto. And
that doesn't even take into account
the use of the words. The counterpart
is always switching places with the
melody line, especially when the beat
switches from three to two to go with
the lyric. I don't know how the hell
he does that, concentrate on two
things at the same time.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
104
67 CONTINUED: 67
BOBBY CUPID (cont'd)
Old Jack, he was always a hundred
years ahead of his time.
• UNCLE SWEETHEART
I don't know what you're talking
about. If a song works it works.
Alexander the Great was a hundred
years ahead of his time, toe.
BOBBY CUPID
Who?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Alexander the Great. The cat who
conquered all of Persia, Africa and
Egypt. A lot of people don't know
about him, but he was a great singer,
too. His mother — and he had a hell
of a mother — says to him, "Is that
all you're gonna do with your life?
Just sing songs to the girls? You
could be out there doing a lot more,
son. You could be conquering this god
forsaken world." You know what he got
up and did?
BOBBY CUPID
(goofing on Uncle Sweetheart)
Who?
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
(exasperated)
Alexander the Great. That's who I'm
talking about. He went out and raised
an army, cooked all his enemies in
crank case oil, rounded up all the
wise citizens and doused them in
canned heat, wiped his mouth, looked
around, went home, went to bed, and
died. Left every nation he plundered
and conquered for his armies to
divide. Sure, he could've stayed home
and strummed on his guitar, but you
never would have heard of him. He
never would have been Alexander the
Great .
BOBBY CUPID
Well, I don't know. But I don't think
he had songs like these...
(CONTINUED)
105
67 CONTINUED: (2) * ,
67
-■UNCLE- SWEETHEART
Yeah, .but what I'm saying is that you
don't change the -world just by
singing.
BOBBY CUPID.
Okay, I'll keep it in mind.
■ ; UNCLE SWEETHEART
•You got any idea what that song's
'about? - t • ■ • '
... BOBBY -CUPID '
Yeah,*, it's about - trying to get to
. .. . heaven'. JYou got . to. know the route
....before you.' start out'.'
■> ' • ' . / ; UNCLE SWEETHEART
No/'it.' s not about -that at all. What
; .strikes you .about’ the song is the
- -‘Jekyll- and Hyde /quality . That's what
, you -like. It's'written from Hyde's
point of. view.- It's just like you.
That's why it rings -so true. . Because
the whole thing is about doing evil
and killing your conscience if you
■can. It's not. like those other songs
of his. Those other ones about
faithless' women, booze, brothels, and
the cruelty of society. This one's
not like those. This one's right up
your alley. It's about doing good by
trying to manipulate the forces of
evil. Isn't. that why you like it?
■Isn't .that what you trying to do?
Admit it. That's what draws you to
the song. Robert Louis Stevenson,
' it' s everything he was saying and
more. It's all in that song. That's
why you like it. Admit it.
BOBBY CUPID
Yeah, okay. If you say so.
They return to their activities.
CUT TO:
106
68 INT. DRESSING ROOM - DAY 68
Jack Fate washes his hands, looks at himself in the
mirror. Tom Friend enters the bathroom.
TOM FRIEND
What have I been doing? Pissing and
missing the bowl?
Jack faces him.
TOM FRIEND (cont' d)
You're avoiding me, but you don't need
to avoid me. I owe you an apology. I
just want to know a few things. Who's
getting the money from this concert?
Who's pockets is it lining? How much
are they paying you to trot around the
ring? I wanna know what pipe of power
you' re smoking from. Remember Janis
Joplin, Jack, the Judy Garland of rock
and roll? She took it all the way,
didn't she? Lord, all she wanted was
a Mercedes Benz. I know you knew her.
Jack. You like people who fall on
their -knees and fawn all over you. I
don't do that, that's why you don't
like me, isn't it? That's why you
don't want to answer any questions.
JACK FATE
I never. really thought about that.
TOM FRIEND
Exactly. What about your rejected
thoughts? Give me a few pieces of the
puzzle. Tell me about the king of the
sexual revolutionaries. Hefner, that
son of the Bible-thumping Baptist.
You know who I'm talking about. How
does he figure into this? What about
that guy, Jack? The guy's slept with
3,000 women. What the fuck for? He's
only got three or four kids . He
should have a thousand kids. He
should be king of the world. What's
the point, Jack? What was he sleeping
with all those women for? What went
wrong. Tell me. You're supposed to
have all the answers.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
107
68 CONTINUED: . 68
TOM FRIEND (cont'd)
Sexuality is more revolutionary than
• any ideology, and you know it. You
think ‘good and bad are irrelevant?
Tell me why. I wanna know what the
hell makes- you tick... And where are
you going from here?
JACK FATE
If I - knew I'd be glad to tell you.
‘ . . TOM FRIEND
"That's. a pat answer.- Here's an easy
'one. Who's your true companion. Jack?
..Who makes '.ybuf' life -easier? Can you
. at least . answer ■ that? .
Jack ‘turns .to . leave'; ' . **
• ■ - > ‘ * *
•' .■ - TOM. FRIEND _ (cont'd)
... .’.’•Look, ma^n, - I'm on'. your side. I wanna
■ • . . -'put. your-story on the front page of
’-the; London -Times. You need the
^publicity and you know it; You know
the London Times, Jack? You been in
England -lately? It- ain't so English
anymore. You wouldn't recognize the
place. Big Ben is still there, so's
.the Tower of London, but it's just a
theme park. The English are in the
minority -in their own country. Jack.
Imagine that. They didn't keep their
birth rate up. Just a lot of the
elderly. What Hitler and Napoleon
couldn't do has been done in a
bloodless, coup. Churchill wouldn't
know the place, his beloved country.
You got your start there, Jack. How
does- that make you feel? The empire
* is finished. What do you think about
all that? That's what I want to
know... Look, man. I'm on your side.
JACK FATE
Don't worry about it.
TOM FRIEND
I don't want to be here anymore than
you do.
JACK. FATE
I doubt it.
(CONTINUED)
108
68 CONTINUED: (2) 68
Jack Fate exits, leaving Tom Friend alone.
CUT TO:
69 INT. LONG, LABYRINTHINE CORRIDOR 69
Jack Fate steps out of the bathroom door and into a dark,
shadowy, labyrinth. He tries to find his way back to the
stage. As he does, he passes the following things:
A. A BLIND MAN; looks like Father Time or Plato.
BLIND MAN
You don't know me, but I've heard of
you. We have a lot in common. Pity
me. I murdered my father in a
scuffle, stabbed him in the neck. I
married my mother in a lavish ceremony
attended by hundreds. I put out my
own eyes. I was forewarned that I
would do this, and by golly, I did.
All of the pieces of my life are not
in good shape, but some things are in
perfect order. It disgusted me when I
had my fortune read and I was
forewarned of what I was about to do.
It was the last thing I ever thought
would happen. I ran as far as I could
to get away. I even ran to another
country and I thought I was safe. I
never thought it would happen to me,
killing my father and marrying my
mother. I wanted to turn and run and
disappear. But to hear Dr. Freud tell
it, I had it all planned out from the
beginning. I'd strangle him if I
could. He slandered me. He never met
me. He made it all up. Dr. Freud, he
wrote about me from cocaine hell.
Cocaine, that's the only thing he knew
anything about. His patients paid him
in it. Cocoa leaf, the curse of the
Incas, gift of the gods, the divine
leaf of immortality. He knew it well.
Thought it gave him more vitality and
an increase in self control. He sang
its praises. Psychotherapy, that
great science, with no fixed laws. An
entire industry based on cocaine
fantasies and hallucinations.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
i *
109
69 CONTINUED: 1 *' : • ’ . 69
'> BLIND MAN (cont'd)
Think about it. He started it all.
German agents dealt it to the British
troops -who went’ crazy on it. 90% of
all dollar bills show traces of it.
Monkeys pass up food and- sex for it.
It's -the amazing elixir of life. Dr.
Freud, he got it from his dentist, his
dealer, gave it to him as an
anaesthetic. Dr. Freud thought most
of our diseases are caused by brain
exhaustion. Long before it was
fashionable, he was .snorting it around
the -clock. '. He ‘rewrote my life's
. history and turned it into a nightmare
. : • ‘ : of childish, sexual fantasy from
everyday -life M've become a symbol
• *• . of .'sexual .-perversion-. '■ Yes, indeed,
• • -■ pity’ me. ' -They. 'don't call it .the
Fr’eudian sniff for nothing. Dr.
• " -Freud,’ he- had nasal .sores and
. ’ * ' bleeding, died. .-a. slow painful death.
. ■ '-.’-He should'. ve • been writing about his
own life, le’ft mine, alone. Say what
•you ‘want about me, I didn't need any
mood elevators to get to the top
floor. But I understand his struggle.
The ride of life is never smooth.
Life is putting up a lot of iron. You
take it down and you haul it over the
road and you set it up again. It's
grueling and it takes a little
something to make it easier. I just
wish he would've written about
somebody else. Now, if you'll excuse
me, I need to get back to my guests.
He walks off. -into the darkness, and we hear a horrific
crash.
B. A MAN on the run. He stops in front of Jack Fate.
They seem to recognize each other.
MAN ON THE RUN
They're filming a TV show back there.
You watch TV for any considerable
length of time, you think that
everybody's either rich or that he's
about to die a horrible death.
The man takes off again.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2)
69
C. He walks past a doorway with a sign on it. The sign
shows a giant chicken chasing a small man. It reads:
"man-eating chicken. " He opens the doer to reveal an
average man sitting at a table eating from a bucket of
fried chicken. He seems surprised by the intrusion.
Jack closes the door and moves on.
D. The magician approaches Jack Fate and performs a trick
for him (e.g. - He pulls a flower from inside his
jacket . )
E. Jack Fate finally winds up in a darkened, empty
soundstage, except for a solitary man, dressed in old-
fashioned clothes and carrying a banjo. His face has been
disfigured, but otherwise he looks like a dandy gone to
seed. Is he real or ethereal? His name is OSCAR VOGEL.
JACK FATE
Excuse me, I got myself all turned
around. Where's the stage?
OSCAR VOGEL
No. You're in the right place.
JACK FATE
You look familiar. Do I know you?
OSCAR VOGEL
Yes, you do. My name is Oscar Vogel.
JACK FATE
Oscar Vogel.
OSCAR VOGEL
Do you remember? It was many years
ago. I was the star of the show here.
One of the biggest stars. Your father
would bring you when you were a child.
I'd put you on the show. You'd play
your guitar. Sing a song. When I
heard you were doing a show here, I
thought you might return the favor.
Beggar that I am, I am even poor in
thanks .
JACK FATE
I don't know if there's room for
anybody on the show. You should talk
to this guy named Uncle Sweetheart.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (3) '
■ OSCAR VOGEL
Yes, I remember him, too. He put
shows on in the past here. I was one
°f your father' s favorite performers
once. Everything was going great as
long as you kept your mouth shut. But
your father was doing things that were
wrong. His desire for retaliation and
. , revenge was too strong, which caused a
lot of '.injustice, 'lies and bad things.
-I was the only one. in any position to
■say . anything . .Everyone else was too
scared." I had the. show . I had a
forum.' So, I- s.poke out. It's not
. what goes', in the mouth, - it's what
• \ “• ‘ comes, out that, counts . ■ They said it
..‘‘"was an -‘accident . -'-Some even said it
wa's- a suicide , Spme people choose to
.■ die- in all' kinds- o'f-'ways. Some jump
. . out of . buildings, -and slit their wrists
on . the . way down. * Some fall on their
^own .sword. 'I opened my mquth. . .
‘That's the way it goes.
JACK .FATE
How do I get to the stage?
OSCAR VOGEL
The stage.- Ah, yes, the stage. The
whole ' world' s a stage.
Jack Fate walks past Oscar Vogel into the darkness. We
hear the sounds of the storm.
DISSOLVE TO
INT. PRESIDENTIAL MANSION -DAY
Outside the President's "bedroom," his staff from high
ranking loyalists to household help stand vigil, awaiting
the inevitable end. From inside the bedroom, we hear
weeping. Then, the curtain is parted. We see the
President, covered with his sheets. Edmund emerges from
the room. Some, amongst the gathered, burst into tears.
EDMUND
The President is dead.
Some mutter "long live the President" in response.
(CONTINUED)
112
70 CONTINUED:
70
EDMUND (cont'd)
Thank you. The President was a strong
and brave man who's principles and
beliefs never wavered, and which we
must continue to strictly adhere to
and carry out, in accordance with his
last wishes. As you kno w, we have .
captured the cultural institutions of
this country. The institutions that
shape : the souls of the young. The
schools, the colleges, the movies,
music, and the arts. They all belong
to us now. At the moment, we are
giving people a new identity, and
erasing the collective memory.
We are rewriting the history books.
Nothing was more important to our
President than bringing peace to this
war torn country. Peace, a lasting
peace, can only be achieved through
strength. So, in my first act as the
new President, as the leader of the
new government, this new regime, we
will begin to deploy troops
immediately to the southern regions,
we will resume the bombing in the
jungle. We will begin executing and
enslaving prisoners, and that
includes those who have preached
diversity but who have never practiced
it, and those who decried intolerance
but were the least tolerant of all.
We shall deal with them in a harsh
manner. Remember this, life is a
chess game, where all the pieces are
the same color. Your self-discipline
shall be watched and judged.
Furthermore, we will alert the rebel
leaders that the negotiations have
ended. There will be no more
compromises. No more concessions.
Only complete and utter and
unequivocal surrender. We have
learned a valuable lesson. Great
nations do not fight small wars. We
have seen the difference between
winners and losers. Those who are
victorious, win first then go to war,
while the defeated go to war first and
then seek to win.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
113
70 CONTINUED: (2) * 70
• EDMUND (cont'd)'
There will be no more stupidity. No
more' mistakes. - It is a new day. God
help you all.
He begins to march down the hall, attended to by his new
staff while his security force begins clearing the room
of mourners. We hear the storm raging.
CUT TO:
■ * . *
NEWS FOOTAGE: -Salne as the opening montage. Political
unrest and violence, natural .disasters, etc. Change is
occurring whether we want it or not.
71 . EXT.‘ -STREET 71
We see" the homeless - 'man in t-he-rain, leaning up against
'the wall .'with his v broken- boom ’box. We'*hear- the sound of
Edmund's speech emanating from it.
' ’ ’ ■ 7 •’ ■ ■ * ‘ CUT TO:
72 INT . • SOUNDSTAGE * ! t 72
MONTAGE (MOS) To the opening strains of "Cold Irons
Bound" * *
•1. Director and technicians in the booth, ready for
broadcast, but the monitors show nothing but static and
they can't fix it.
2. Nina Veronica enters urgently, sees the broadcast
transmission difficulties and gets on the phone to Lucius
and his flunkies. There is no answer.
3. Uncle Sweetheart, alone in the dressing room, drinking
heavily.
3a. Tom Friend and Pagan Lace outside the SOUNDSTAGE,
immersed in a horrible, physical argument in the rain.
.4. Bobby Cupid asleep in a remote, dark corner of the
SOUNDSTAGE. He hears the opening riff of the song,
awakens,* and steps onto the stage where all the workers
. and others dance and gyrate and genuflect to this Swamp
'Boogie Tent revival show.
CUT TO:
INT. SOUNDSTAGE
73
Jack and the band playing "Cold Irons Bound."
Lyrics
I'm beginning to hear voices and there's no one around
Well, I'm all used up and the fields have turned brown
I went to church on Sunday and she passed by
My love for her is taking such a long time to die
I'm waist deep, waist deep in the mist
It's almost like, almost like I don't exist
I'm twenty miles out of town, in cold irons bound
The walls of pride are high and wide
Can't see over to the other side
It' s such a sad thing to see beauty decay
It's sadder still, to feel your heart torn away
One look at you and I'm out of control
Like the universe has swallowed me whole
I'm twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound
There's too many people, too many to recall
I thought some of 'n were friends of mine; I was wrong
about 'n all
Well, the road is rocky and the hillside's mud
Up over my head nothing but clouds of blood
I found my world, found my world in you
But your love just hasn't proved true
I'm twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound
Twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound
(CONTINUED)
115
*
73 CONTINUED: ■ ’ : - 73
% • '
Oh, the winds, in Chicago have torn me to shreds
Reality has always had too many heads
Some things last longer 'that you think they will
There are some kind of things you can never kill
It's you and you only, I'm been thinking about
But you can' t see in and .it' s .hard lookin' out
I'm twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound
Well the f ats; in" .the fire and the water's in the tank
The whiskey's in the /jar • and* the money / s in the bank
I tried to love and'*protect you because I cared
.I'm gonna 'remember forever ( . the joy that we shared
Looking at* you and I'm on my bended knee
You have no idea what you do to me
I'm twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound
.Twenty miles out of town in cold irons bound
As Jack repeats- the -last line again and again, we
CUT TO:
74 INT. SOUNDSTAGE - DAY 74
As the army bursts in, breaking up the show, taking
prisoners, . harassing and injuring innocent people. A
small group of soldiers burst into the booth and take a
struggling Nina Veronica into custody. The plug is
.pulled. ’In the midst of the madness:
VENTRILOQUIST'S DUMMY
That song makes so much psychological
sense. It doesn't pander or talk down
to anyone. And it's got a great
melody.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
74
VENTRILOQUIST
I'm sorry, what?
FADE OUT.
INT. SOUNDSTAGE - LATER - DAY '
As people pick through the rubble trying to 'make sense of
the senseless violence, an inebriated Uncle Sweetheart is
hitting on Pagan Lace, who is picking up shards and
relics like collecting shells on the beach. She is not
listening to Uncle Sweetheart.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
We' re living in a tawdry and vulgar
age. What do you think?
PAGAN LACE
(distracted by her task)
Yes, we are.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
You . know when the Roman empire fell?
You know what Caesar and the rest of
them Romans were doing when the
barbarians were at the gates?
PAGAN LACE
What?
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Shooting craps and gambling.
PAGAN LACE
Gambling's a waste of time and energy.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
If you wanna build a casino, you gotta
build it like a fortress in case
there's a police raid.
PAGAN LACE
I suppose.
UNCLE SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Can I offer you a drink? Wanna be
sociable?
PAGAN LACE
I don't drink.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED
75
. • ■ Uncle -sweetheart (cont'd)
One’ little sip of nectar.
PAGAN LACE
I said I don't drink;
i
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Come on, you're not on duty.
■ .PAGAN LACE
• I told you before, no.
* " UNCLE. -SWEET HE ART
. ■ Come on, you can get to the truth of
things*. . 'Discover the riches of a wise
, ‘ * ■. • -and* good life. * .
• ' ' •> ■■■■' . *
*■ ■ */■ ' -PAGAN LACE .
• • ’ ‘ Thanks, 1*11 stay. as. -.1 am.
. ■ UNCLE '.SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Don't you want to -.live forever? Put
some’ liquor in your blood.
Uncle Sweetheart tries to force the drink on her. She
resists mightily. A minor struggle ensues. Tom Friend
.enters. He is clearly. medicated.
TOM FRIEND
She don't want a drink.
Uncle Sweetheart and Pagan Lace uncouple.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Oh, look who's here. The sultan of
sleaze." The thing that came from
outer space. Where' d you come from,
the world's fair? We're having a
conversation here.
TOM FRIEND
You've had your day and there's no
■ more conversation.
PAGAN LACE
It's okay.
(CONTINUED)
118
75 CONTINUED: (2)
75
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Look, I was selling porn magazines out
of the trunk of my car before you were
born. Don't tell me I've had my day.
TOM FRIEND
It is your day. Now, drag your
swollen self out of here. Get away
from her.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
You're the scum of all scum. You
should never have been born, you
pickled punk.
With that, Tom Friend slowly and methodically takes a
chair and smashes Uncle Sweetheart. He grabs Uncle
Sweetheart's collar and starts to strangle him. Pagan
grabs Tom Friend and starts to scream.
PAGAN LACE
Tom, don't, don't.
TOM FRIEND
No, I'm gonna win you a prize.
PAGAN LACE
Tom —
■ TOM FRIEND
(choking Uncle Sweetheart)
I just hit the lotto jackpot. Won the
booby prize. A dead dog.
In the midst of this tense scene. Jack Fate wanders past
with his old guitar. He is clearly leaving. Although
he'd rather not, he can't help but see what's
transpiring. We see him. at this crossroads. He starts
to leave again, but can't. He stops, considers his
options. He knows he has none. Reluctantly , but
inevitably, he approaches the conflict. He steps up to
Tom Friend and pushes him back.
JACK FATE
He's done nothing to you.
Tom Friend and Uncle Sweetheart stop struggling as Tom
Friend turns to Jack Fate.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (3) ' r
75
TOM FRIEND
(incredulous)
You're gonna try to protect him?
You're gonna try to kill me? That
sack of shit? That wooden-faced
moron? I wouldn't spit on him. Him
and his. mucky, lying tongue. He
screwed you over just, like everybody
■ else. ■■
Jack Fate and -Tom .Friend grapple . Jack Fate pushes an
uneasy .Torn Friend, -who -trips' over a chair and falls.
Jack Fate " breaks -a bottle, holds it to Tom Friend's
'throat.- He's, go-t his foot. ; on his chest. He suddenly
backs .'off- ■ Tom Friend/ as he gets up, pulls out a
pistol.. He aims first .at* 'Sweetheart, then at Fate, but
hesitates.' He.- hears the woirds.of the fortune teller:
Someone is -praying that, you'll'. escape this trap . Victory
comes from .avoiding it . altogether or running swiftly from
it ........ Just then/ in- Tom' -Friend' s moment of doubt and
hesitation Bobby' Cupid'.comes out of nowhere with Blind
Lemon' s ■ guitar and smashes Tom Friend repeatedly until
Tom Friend falls, and all that's left of the guitar is
the neck. Bobby Cupid' then plunges the jagged edge of
the neck into Tom Friend, - as the others look on, sprayed
and splattered with Tom Friend's blood. Pagan Lace
screams by the fallen, dying body of Tom Friend. She
lies on top of him and weeps.
PAGAN
Tom! Don't leave me! Don't leave me!
TOM FRIEND
(faint whisper)
Once when I was passing a cathedral, a
white dove came flying by and dropped
a twig it was carrying in its beak at
my feet. Poetry, painting and music.
It's funny. I never thought about
• those things until now.
He dies.. Pagan Lace looks up. She hears — nothing.
She smiles and hugs Tom Friend's lifeless body. We hear
the sound of sirens in the distance. The two crew guys
approach and kneel down to check Tom's pulse.
CREW GUY #1
This guy's gone. Somebody better call
the meat wagon.
(CONTINUED)
120
75 CONTINUED: (4)
75
JACK FATE
(to Bobby Cupid)
You better get out of here. Go out
the back way.
BOBBY CUPID
You coming, too?
JACK FATE
I'm staying here.
He hands Bobby Cupid his own guitar. Bobby takes it,
they exchange a glance, and Bobby is off. Uncle
Sweetheart is distraught. Jack comforts him.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
Ah, man. I didn't realize it would
come down like this.
JACK FATE
How would you know?
The soldiers enter holding Nina at gunpoint.
POLICEMAN #2
All right? Everybody stay where you
are. Anybody see anything?
There is silence. They prod Nina with their rifles.
NINA
I saw it. I saw it all. I was right
there. He did it.
She points at Jack Fate.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
What?!
Pagan Lace looks up, confused, but doesn't say anything.
JACK FATE
That's okay.
NINA
Yeah, he did it. I was there. I saw
it all. He's responsible. It might
have been a random act, but you know
what? You can put his whole life on
trial .
(CONTINUED)
121
75 CONTINUED: ' (5) • .. 75
They put the -cuffs on Jack and lead him away. Nina is
freed. She exchanges a glance with Jack Fate and exits.
Uncle Sweetheart kneels down next to Pagan Lace and
begins' to rifle through. Tom Friend's pockets. He finds
money and valuables, but then decides not to keep them.
He throws them back down on the body and sighs.
UNCLE SWEETHEART
There's. so much love, light, beauty,
•humor and happiness in the. world.
Everything is always" right there, but
■ you can't see it'.:. * Sometimes, after
'/ - awhile .there' s’’ no -nothing. It all
comes ' .down ’ to -that.
< . . . ■ • ■ , ‘
.Pagan Lace takes pity on -Undle " Sweetheart . She takes his
bottle -from -him ahd in-'.an act of compassion, connection,
ahd;'ev’en liberation takes a- -drink. PERCY and BLUNT
-.appear-.- Uncle . Sweetheart se'eS' them.
■ * r' -'- ■ UNCLE’ SWEETHEART (cont'd)
Ah, -yeah.
; PERCY
For everything in life you do,
SweetKeart, there's a price. You pay
it up front, in the beginning, or you
pay it at the back-end.
They lead him away. We can hear the sirens and commotion
outside. The two crew guys gather their tools.
CREW GUY #1
Bugles of madness.
CREW GUY #2
What'd you say?
CREW GUY #1
. Nothing. I didn't say nothing. I
didn't see nothing. I don't know
nothing.
CREW GUY #2
Yeah, well. That's a good way to be.
It' s better to know nothing than to
think you know something that isn't
so .
(CONTINUED)
122
75 CONTINUED: (6)
They exit.
CUT TO:
76 EXT. SOUNDSTAGE FACILITY - DAY
As the doors open and bright sunlight floods in we follow
Jack Fate into the police car and the police car as it
drives away.
CUT TO:
77 EXT./INT. POLICE CAR -DAY
As it drives away, it gets caught in a massive traffic
jam. Up ahead, we see why. It's a siate funeral for
Jack's father, the President. The slow procession
marches down the boulevard. In back. Jack Fate observes
the funeral procession as it passes. Finally, there is a
break in the funeral procession and the police car drives
through. We hear the preacher on the radio.
RADIO PREACHER (V.O.)
God has turned his back on this
nation... The same god that creates the
diseases and- the plagues, also creates
the medicines and the cures ... Gods ,
being invulnerable, they cannot have
nobility. They do not know self-
sacrifice .. .God does not suffer... He
doesn't feel pain... He is not a
courageous God... Human beings can be
courageous or cowardly. Neither of
these make up any of god's nature.
The gods don’t determine outcome.
They control passions. That’s how
they get people to do their
bidding. . .Man has the mind of God, but
the body of dust. . .All of humankind is
a slave race and was meant to be from
the beginning. . .Will man destroy the
earth to move on? Is that his
destiny? We'll wait to find
out. . .What nourishes gods? The smell
of fear. The gods get fat on
fear... These gods left before the
Bible was written.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
123
CONTINUED: '* ^ pR£ACHER (cont , d)
Man was left on. his own and yet that
is not -the end of it. Ask yourselves
a question, people. Are you humb e
before god?.
PULL OUT/ as the police car drives away, past the funeral
procession.
JACK FATE (V.O.)
...I -was always a singer and maybe no
'more than that. Sometimes it's not
’■ enough to know ‘the meaning of things.
• Sometimes we' have 'to . know what things
. ■' ‘don't 'mean -as well.' .-Like, what does
it mean to not know what the person
: • '■-.■■■■.you love -is capable -of? Things fall
' * ». * 'apart, .especially- .all’ the neat order
• *• ■/• * of 1 rules .a’nd'-laws. The way we look at
■ ■■■' ' the -world is - the . way we really are.
' 'see it '.from -a. fair garden, everything
looks ..cheerful'. /.Climb to a higher
mountain, ‘and you see plunder and
'murder.. Truth and beauty -are xn trie
eye of the beholder. I stopped trying
to figure everything out a long time
MUSIC
: "Cold Irons Bound" (reprise)
FADE OUT
THE END